Bleach: The Time Capsule War
by Lord Slayer
Summary: Two hundred years have passed since the Winter War, yet Sosuke Aizen's plots continue to plague the Soul Society. Now it is up to the newest generation of Soul Reapers to bring an end to Aizen's Legacy. Chapter 10 is up. Please remember to read and review
1. Chapter 1: Probation

**Author's Note: **Hello, everyone! This is my first Blach Fan Fic. It takes place two hundred years after the current story line, and focuses mainly around some OCs of mine, though many canon characters will have important parts. Apologies to all who prefer the original Japanese term for the Soul Society's soldiers, but I prefer the term Soul Reaper because it sounds cooler to me. If there is anything wrong with my Japanese for my Zanpakuto names, please feel free to correct me. Read and review please, **especially **if you also Favorite. It kinda bugs me when people favorite without reviewing. Thanks in advance.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach or anything associated with Bleach, except for the Graphic Novels. Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo-sama.

**Bleach: Time Capsule War**

**Chapter 1: Probation**

The soul reaper took one last leap into the air and landed with his usual grace upon the top spire of the Eiffel Tower. Looking out over glowing Parisian landscape, the swordsman reveled in the beauty of it all, and in his own new-found sense of importance. He continued standing like this for several minutes before realizing that something was wrong.

"Why did my teammates' reiatsu just disappear?" he wondered aloud. "Better check on them."

He reached into the folds of his robes, only to find that his soul pager was missing. He swore under his breath at this as he wondered where he could have lost it at. Was it while he was fighting that last Hollow?

Just then the spiritual pressure of several Hollows came to his attention as well. Hollows' reiatsu always spiked whenever they fed...

_'Oh, that's just great!'_ the soul reaper thought irritably, cursing himself for getting so distracted that he had missed the Hollows. _'Captain Hitsugaya is going to be majorly PO'ed.'_

Pushing his shunpo abilities to their limits, the soul reaper leapt off the tower and made his way towards the source of the Hollow's spiritual pressure. Within a few short moments, he found himself standing in front of a wide, dingy alley- an alley covered in blood and gore that was invisible to human eyes, and occupied by several large Hollows.

"Damn! How did they get beaten so easily?" the red haired Soul Reaper growled as he drew one of his swords. "Never mind that. It's time to take these Hollows down! Hyah!"

As the Soul Reaper charged in, one of the Hollows- a burly, gorilla-like beast whose palms alone were the size of a car tire- responded in kind and attempted to swat the soldier like a bug. However, the big monster was far too slow, and was quickly dispatched by a combination shunpo-decapitation blow. The next Hollow in line- a creature which resembled a triceratops with a pair of gun barrels growing out of its back- fired a volley of high-speed reishi projectiles.

"Bakudo #39: Enkosen!" the Soul Reaper commanded, summoning a small shield to block most of the Hollow's blasts before Flash Stepping behind it. A swift stab to the back of the head ended this battle as well.

Now enraged, the remaining two Hollows- one with monkey-like and the other squirrel-like- leapt at their foe. However, the soul reaper simply dashed forward and cut these two down with barely any effort.

"Hah, that was easy," the soul reaper laughed as he sheathed his zanpakuto and leaned against the wall. "No challenge what-so-ever!"

Just then, four clawed fingers ghosted through the wall and impaled themselves through the soul reaper's body.

Screaming in pain and surprise, the soul reaper looked down weakly and stared at the claws covered in his blood and organs; one through his upper torso, one through his mid-torso, one through his stomach, and one through his abdomen. The sight of it nearly caused him to pass out, but the appearance of his attacker's skull-like mask and tooth-filled maw passing through the section of wall to his right caused him not to do so. As the Hollow let loose a roar and moved in to devour its prey, the soul reaper had only just enough time to curse himself for being so careless before his whole world turned black.

Suddenly, that blackness was replaced by a blinding light, and then faded away to reveal the light-blue and grey coloration of the mission simulation room. Collapsing to the metallic floor, the soul reaper remained motionless for several minutes- with the exception of heavy panting- while his mind tried to recover from the shock of his simulated death. Once he was well-enough to do so, the soul reaper began to pull himself shakily to his feet. To his relief, his five teammates were also rising, though their faces were- like his- still plastered over with the fear and mental-pain caused by the hologram's realism.

"What the hell was that, Insei!?" an angry voice bellowed over the PA.

Looking up, the group of soul reapers could see their red-faced captain and his lieutenant staring down at them from the glass-sealed observation and control deck twenty feet above them.

"Yeah, I know. Sorry. I let my guard down," the red haired soul reaper- Yamato Insei- apologized calmly. At this, his team mates turned and gave him death glares.

"That's not what I'm talking about, you block head!" Toshiro Hitsugaya barked over the intercom. "I mean that part where you shot out way ahead of your team, lost your soul pager so that your team couldn't contact you while toying around with that first Hollow, then posing on the Eiffel Tower like some kind of superhero while paying no attention to your team's reiatsu, or that of the other simulated Hollows, thus allowing your team to get slaughtered!"

"Well, it's not my fault if you guys can't keep up," the one called Insei said simply to his still-glaring teammates.

Yamato Insei was a young man in his upper one hundreds, with middle length, spiky red hair, and blue eyes. He was of average height, light skinned, and wore the standard soul reaper uniform. Two zanpakuto were tucked into his hakama-himo (belt) side-by-side, both with a red hilt and circular-guard.

"Not your fault!?" one of the members of Yamato's group complained. "So does that mean that it's OUR fault that we got ambushed and slaughtered by Hollows without you there to help us out?"

"You suck, Insei!"

"You're the commander of our squadron, and you left us behind! Of COURSE it's your fault!"

"What's wrong with you? Are you stupid or something!?"

"What? You think that you're Mr. Important now that you've been moved up from Twelfth Seat? Does that mean that it doesn't matter what happens to the rest of us? Is that you're saying!?"

"I don't see what you guys are getting so worked up for," Yamato replied irritably, "It was just a training mission."

"A training mission should be treated just like a real one!" Hitsugaya growled, "That's why it's made to be so realistic. That's why we have simulated Hollows based off of real ones. The only difference is that if you were to do what you just did on a real mission, then you might as well not come back, because otherwise you'd be punished so severally that spending a day with a starving Menos Grande would seem pleasant by comparison!"

"Oh, Captain, go easy on him," Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto's voice was heard over the intercom.

"Don't defend him Matsumoto," the silver haired captain snapped. "You've seen it too."

"Seen what?" the large bosomed lieutenant and the red haired soldier demanded simultaneously.

"Ever since you were promoted to Fourth Seat of Squad Ten," Hitsugaya explained irritably, "You've become arrogant, insubordinate, mouthy, started looking down on subordinates, and just been an overall thorn in my side, and in everyone else's in this squad as well!"

Yamato's five teammates nodded in unison, much to the former's great annoyance.

"Well, I don't think he's been quite that bad," Rangiku replied nonchalantly. Then in a voice that broadcasted to everyone that she had a sly grin on her face, she said, "Well, maybe he _has_ been bad, but not in the way you've been talking about, Captain. In fact, he's been downright naughty!"

"WHAT!? YAMATO!! RANGIKU!!"

_'Uh-oh,'_ Yamato thought as his face began to turn red, _'The Captain's using given names. Not good.'_

Upon glancing at his team's faces- looks of extreme envy from the three men and disapproving glares from the two women- his face grew even more red. Never again would he accept an invitation to go out for sake with Rangiku, he vowed. Turning back around, Yamato suddenly found himself face-to-face with his teenaged captain- causing him to jump back several feet.

"Your behavior of late has been absolutely atrocious, Insei," the Captain said in a deadly serious voice, "And you have brought great dishonor upon both your rank, your squad, me, and the entire Gotei Thirteen. However, you were a good soldier before all of this nonsense started. That is why I had you promoted in the first place. It is also why, rather than stripping you of your status as an unseated officer here and now, I am putting you on probation until further notice. Now return to your barracks, Insei, and watch what you say and do from now on; or I'll have no choice but to demote you to the lowest ranks of this division."

Without another word, the Captain turned on his heel and stormed out through the training room door. He was soon followed by the other members of Yamato Insei's team, who filed out one after another without speaking to or even looking at their disgraced commander.

Looking up at the observation deck, Yamato saw Rangiku shake her head sadly, then turn and leave as well.

"Damn it!" Insei screamed. "Damn, damn, damn, DAMN!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You got probation!?"

"Yes, Akira."

"Wow! I'd never guess that YOU'D wind up getting probation!"

"Yes, Akira!"

"I mean- wow! Back at the academy, you were about the only one who never got in trouble. It's hard to imagine that YOU, of all people, would wind up getting probation!"

"Akira, I'm warning you, if you say probation one more time, and I swear you'll be wearing your stomach for a hat!"

An entire thirty seconds passed in absolute silence.

"Probation, probation, probation, probation!"

"DIE!!"

Probation, although far from the worst punishment in the Soul Society's military, was a most unpleasant punishment, nevertheless. In short, any seated officer- from twentieth seat to captain- who behaves dishonorably can be put on a two month probation period in which said officer is disallowed any and all privileges, including such things as leave to the world of the living, living world patrols, wandering around the Seireitei, training, or visiting friends in the 4th Squad infirmary. Even visits to someone on their deathbed are not allowed. Basically, all that could be done while on probation was one's office and do paperwork, which often mysteriously increased to far more than usual. Finally, a soul reaper on probation could not even be recommended for promotion, squad transference, on anything else of the kind. After the end of the probation period, the accused are then required to go through with the Captain-General. If no further infractions have been committed, then the accused has all privileges restored, and is allowed to go on with life. If any more misdeeds have been done, however, then the accused would be stripped of their rank and be unable to be promoted again for fifty years, and even then only one rank at a time- so long as they were not a captain, lieutenant, or third seat, however. If one was one of the top three officers in their squad, however, then they would have their soul reaper abilities sealed away, their zanpakuto confiscated, and be banished from the Seireitei. Fortunately, no first, second, or third seat officer had ever been put on probation- although Rangiku had come close several times.

Upon completing his beating-up of his friend, Yamato plopped himself down onto the roof of the Squad Ten Barracks, and began to pout.

"Oh, don't be like that!" his friend said upon seeing what the other was doing, "Cheer up! It's just two months."

"That's easy for you to say, Akira," Yamato snapped.

Akirga Togashi was a young man with long, black hair, sharp brown eyes, and a pronounced chin. He was a bit taller than Yamato, light skinned, and wore his kosode- the black outer part of his robe- with the entire right half missing. His zanpakuto- a nodachi with a cross-shaped guard and a light blue hilt- was tucked into his belt, which also had a small silver cross strung with a silver chain dangling from it. He was the same age as Yamato, and had been good friends with him all throughout their days at the Soul Reaper Academy.

"Ah, well. Could be worse," Akira commented casually as he sat back on the roof.

"How?"

"You could be Squad Nine's newest sixth seat, and constantly being pushed around by those jerks who call themselves the fourth and fifth seat of my squad."

"Meh," Yamato shrugged, "As if that's any worse than my problem. They'll be asking how high you want them to jump within the year, and you know it."

"That's not the point," Akira replied while poking his friend in the side, "The point is that this is just a temporary thing, and not something you need to worry too much about. All you need to do is get an attitude adjustment, stay away from the sake and anyone with breasts bigger than a B-cup- and especially girls with a size G- and you'll be off the hook in no time!"

Yamato sat silently for a moment to take this information in. Then he asked, "Do I really need that much of an attitude adjustment?"

"Oh, yeah!" Akira nodded, "You've been struttin' around like you'd just been made Soul King ever since you got that promotion; and frankly, me and the others have been wantin' to smack you upside the head for the last three weeks. Yoshi was even plotting to de-pants you the next time we're out in a large crowd, but maybe now she won't, but I wouldn't count on it. Keep your guard up, my friend."

"She's been wanting to do WHAT!?"

"Don't worry, I'll try to talk her out of it," Akira tried to reassure. "And if I'm not convinced, I'll ask Keigo or Mizuho of Squad Eleven to do it. Or failing that, have them ask Third Seat Madarame to do it. If anyone can stop her, he can."

"I'm real sorry, Akira," Yamato said, now looking quite downtrodden. "I've been such a jerk. I guess The jump from academy cadet, to twelfth seat, to fourth seat all within the last year and a half really gave me a swelled head. I've been such a jerk, lately."

"Hey, no problem, man!" the other replied. "Stuff happens. All that matters is that you recognized it, and are going to do better next time, right?"

"Right," Yamato nodded with a slight smile. Then a confused look crossed the fourth seat's face as one of Akira's earlier statements crossed his mind and he asked, "What did you mean earlier about staying away from sake and G-cup girls? Are you implying something?"

"Huh? What? Me? No! No! No!" Akira yelped, suddenly looking quite panicked. "I don't know what you're talking about! You must have misheard what I had really said!"

"Hmm...," Yamato pondered suspiciously. Then, seemingly changing the subject, he asked, "Did you hear about me and Lieutenant Isane Kotetsu last week at my promotion party? Man! What a night!"

"Isane!? What are you talking about man!? Were you so insanely drunk that you don't even know that it was Rangiku who you- whoops!"

"A-ha!" Yamato yelled triumphantly. "So you DID know that it was Rangiku who 'wandered' into my room after I'd went to bed! And the room that we had the party in was nowhere near where my room was, so nobody could have suspected that that was where she was going unless they were there when they went inside, and THAT means that YOU were probably the one who put that idea into her head in the first place!!"

"I-I-I don't know what you're talking about!"

"AKIRA!" Yamato yelled, putting his friend into a deadly headlock.

"Okay, okay! I'm sorry!" the other choked out, "But I'd had a bit too much myself, and I thought it would be funny if I suggested that she 'make your party memorable,' so to speak. I didn't think that she'd actually do it!"

"I'm gonna kill you till yer dead, then kill ya some MORE! THEN I'll feed you to a Hollow, then I'll..."

"Hey, hot-stuff!" Rangiku Matsumoto greeted as she Flash Stepped onto the roof.

"Hello Rangiku...," Yamato half groaned, turning away from the top-heavy strawberry blond as his face turned red again.

Meanwhile, Akira's face began to turn blue.

"I've got something for you!" Squad Ten's lieutenant said with an innocent face and a sing-song voice.

"Lieutenant Matsumoto, please! I'm in enough trouble as it is!"

Akira began vainly gasping for breath.

"Oh, come now! Don't be so formal! And it's not what you think. I'm just trying to make up for the trouble Akira and I got you into by giving you a bit of a small reprieve from your probation."

"How?"

"I thought that I might send you on a little errand to the Rukongai to pick up something for me. In between leaving here and getting back, you can go do something that doesn't involve doing paper work or hanging around bored out of your mind in the barracks- oh, wait, those are the same thing."

"Won't I get in trouble for that?" Yamato asked.

"No, of course not!" Rangiku nearly sang, "I checked the regulation book VERRY clearly. You can only leave the Seireitei if you are sent out by a superior officer of at least lieutenant rank if it is something very important, so long as you don't go to the World of the Living. Rukongai isn't in the World of the Living, but it's not in the Seireitei, so it's perfectly legal!"

Yamato thought about this for a moment, then released Akira from his headlock. The latter immediately collapsed, and nearly slid off of the roof.

"What KIND of errand is this?" Yamato asked suspiciously.

"A VERY important one!" Rangiku replied with a conspiratorial wink. "SUPER top-secret. VERY hush-hush."

Yamato sighed.

"Fine," he said, "But if I get in trouble for this, you have to take the blame."

"Cross my heart!" the red/blond woman said with an innocent smile. Then she held out a piece of paper.

"What's this?" Yamato asked, taking the paper.

"It's the address that you need to go to," Rangiku replied.

Yamato groaned at what was written there:

_Jay's Fine Lingerie and Swimwear_

_23742 Black Bird Street_

_Sector 9, East Rukongai_

"Better hurry!" Rangiku sang, "It's VE-ERRY important!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Damn damn, damn, damn, DAMN!" Yamato muttered to himself as he passed through the arch that led into East Rukongai's ninth district. "How do I get myself INTO these messes!?"

It didn't take long for him to find Jay's Fine Lingerie and Swimwear. It was a rather large building, painted in bright, gaudy colors, and covered with posters depicting buxom young women modeling the store's products.

"Oh, brother," Yamato sighed as he forced himself to enter the store, "Note to self: Never let Rangiku talk you into doing anything ever again. Or better yet, don't ever listen when she talks to you again."

"Ah! A Soul Reaper!" the man behind the counter declared upon seeing Yamato. "How can I be of service today?"

The cashier, the Jay of Jay's Fine Lingerie, Yamato assumed, was a short man with a round belly, a large black mustache, a balding head, and gray robes made from some kind of fine, silk-like material. He also had beady black eyes, and a look about him that suggested that he spent far too much time in the company of scantily clad females.

"I'm here for a, ahem, package for a Miss Rangiku Matsumoto of the Court Guard's Thirteenth Squadron," Yamato replied, fidgeting uncomfortably.

"Ah! Yes! It's here!" the man with the large mustache declared enthusiastically. Then he winked and nudged Yamato several times. "Yes, Ms. Matsumoto will greatly enjoy these; as I'm sure you will my friend, if she sent you for the reason I think she did. Am I right? Huh? Huh? Am I right? Ah, she's a luscious woman, that one!"

"Just get me the package!" Yamato growled irritably, wondering how much trouble he would get in if he blasted the little man away with a Shakkaho. All of a sudden, Yamato's senses were overwhelmed by a massive spiritual pressure the likes of which he had never felt before.

"Wh-what IS this!?" Yamato gasped, falling to the ground.

"What's what?" Jay- who was unable to sense reiatsu- questioned. "Are you feeling alright, sir?"

Then, without warning, the strange spiritual pressure grew and became more concentrated; so much so that even Jay could feel it. This was followed immediately by what felt like a large earthquake.

"What's happening? Oh, my! What's happening!" Jay cried.

"I- I don't-" Yamato began, but was interrupted as a great blast of spiritual energy tore through the building and the entire surrounding area, filling all with a bright white light.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---Department of Research and Development---

---Three minutes earlier---

"Captain! We've got a situation here!" Rin Tsubokura yelled frantically as he stared at his monitor's screen.

"What is it?" Captain Mayurai Kurotsuchi demanded as stomped towards his subordinate's terminal, his lieutenant and creation/daughter Nemu Kurotsuchi following obediently behind. He had been in and out of meetings for most of the morning, thus being unable to complete his latest research on soul modification, which made him to be rather grumpy just then.

"Sir, some kind of spiritual anomaly has just formed in the Dangai, and is trying to force its way into the Soul Society!"

"An anomaly?" Kurotsuchi asked, suddenly intrigued. The grotesque Captain took a spot behind his subordinate's shoulder and stared hard. "Hmm, how very interesting."

"What is it, sir?" Rin's fellow scientists, Akon and Hiyosu, asked as they left their posts to take a look.

"I'm not sure," Kurotsuchi said, half to himself. Then angrily he demanded of Rin, "Worm! Why wasn't I informed of this sooner!?"

"I-it just now appeared! Out of nowhere!"

"Just now? Impossible! No mass of spiritual energy that great could just form out of nowhere!"

"Well, it did...Sir."

"Where's it breaking through at?" Mayuri asked, even as he searched the screen for the readings.

"East Rukon District, Ninth District."

"Nemu! Akon!" Kurotsuchi barked, "Get your lazy butts down to East Rukongai immediately! I'm going to observe how things are going here, and I need someone with at least half a brain to be there when it breaks through to give me a proper report."

"Yes, sir," Nemu and the horned Akon nodded obediently, then took off to fulfill their assigned tasks.

"Yes, this is going to be very interesting...," the clown-like scientist mused to himself as he watched the screen. It was then that he noticed that something else was now heading towards East Rukon, something which had just come out of Hueco Mundo. Something with a very strange- though somewhat recognizable- reiatsu signature. Something which seemed to be following the mysterious, dangai-formed mass of energy.

Then, without warning, the screen was engulfed in a blizzard of multi-colored static.

"Fool! What did you do!?"

"I d-didn't do anything , sir!" Rin whimpered, "It's like something's messing with our sensors.

"Hmm, interesting timing," Kurotsuchi mused to himself, suddenly thoughtful.

"Sir?"

"All in good time Tsubokura," Kurotsuchi said with a smile that caused Rin to almost wet himself with fright, "All in good time."

**To Be Continued...**

**_____________________________________________________________________________________**

**Preview: **

Yamato- Gaah! Stupid author! Now everyone's first impression of me is that I'm some womanizing a-hole! That's not really me, everybody! I swear! I was WAY out of character in the first part.

Akira- You were out of character in the first chapter? Isn't that kind of...I don't know...odd?

Yamato- It's the author's fault, not mine!

Rangiku- Hey, hottie! *hick* Wanna do, ya know, _that_ again? *hic*

Yamato- NO! Stay away from me! I'm not into that kind of stuff anyway!

Rangiku- What are ya, gay?

Yamato- No!

Toshiro- Shut up you idiots, and do the preview!

Ichigo- But Toshiro, we're out of time.

Toshiro- Don't call me Tosh-

*Black out*

_____________________________________________________________________________________

**Omake:**

"Hey! Rangiku!" Akira shouted loudly, stumbling through the assembled group of friends and colleagues at Yamato Insei's 4th Seat Promotion Party. "Come over here! I gots an idea!"

"What is it?" the Tenth Squad lieutenant hiccupped, her face flushed red and her fifteenth cup of sake clutched in her hands.

"I gots a great idea!" Akira slurred, "A great way to prank 'Mato!"

"Ooh! Let's hear it!"

"You're hot, right?"

"You know I am."

"Exactly. An' 'Mato needs to learn to learn to loosen up 'round hot girls!"

"And he needs to learn to hold his liqueur!" Rangiku snickered, "He only had five cups, then went to bed!"

"Right! So what you're going to do is take a half-empty bottle of sake, a bunch of cups, and go into his room and sleep in there."

"Huh? You want me to...,"

"Nuh, nuh," Akira grunted as he downed another cup, unable to properly pronounce no. "Y'see, I wnt ye to go n' make it luk like ya got 'im REAL drunk, n' tink he did do that wit ya. It'll be hilarious! Trust me, da face on his face, I mean da luk on iz face 'll be priceless!"

Rangiku laughed loudly and drunkenly at this idea, her alcohol soaked brain making it seem to be a much better idea than it actually was.

"Dat's a great idea, Togashi! I'll go do it righ' now!"

"Awsum!" Akira laughed. Then his face grew pale and he said, "Now if'n yul escuze me, I need ta- ta..."

Akira turned and ran, but he didn't get very far. One loud retching sound and a loud, wet plop later, and the Ninth Squad's 6th seat had heaved his guts all over a female Soul Reaper who had been in his class at the Soul Reaper Academy. The unfortunate young man was soon sent flying across the room from a powerful roundhouse kick to the head, causing Rangiku and nearly everyone else to begin laughing raucously.

"Amateur!" the busty lieutenant declared as she downed her sixteenth cup of sake.


	2. Chapter 2: Street Fight, Part 1

**Author's Note: **Okay, starting now, I'm going to need everyone who has any Japanese at all to look very closely for when I use Zanpakuto names and attack, because my Japanese borderlines nonexistent. Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed so far, and I hope that you all enjoy this latest installment. As always, constructive criticism is not only welcomed, but encouraged; and please review when you favorite. Thank you.

**WARNING: MINOR SPOILER IN THE OMAKE AND THE THIRD PARAGRAPH OF THE SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE.**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach. Tite Kubo does. I will soon think of a fun running gag to go along with this, as I do with my Slayer fics.

Kon- Hey! Are ya forgetting about me? Stuffed Lion Kick!

Me- Owch! Okay, fine, but you better think of something different than just beating me up, or else L-Sama will literally rip you a new one for copy-right infringement.

Kon- *scared* L-...L-Sama...?

L-Sama- *appears as a shadowy, menacing outline in the background* Meh-heh-heh!

**Chapter 2: Street Fight Part 1:  
Swords, Shields, and Bows**

Pain filled her body. Pain of loss, pain of not knowing, pain of not being. Her shapeless soul writhed within the void as she slowly faded into oblivion.

Then a holy light cut through the darkness, and a majestic, angelic voice like that of a thousand beautiful things spoke to her.

_"Well done, my child,"_ said the voice, _"Your selfless act has returned balance to the cosmos, and prevented it from slipping into darkness. For your bravery, I shall grant you true existence. Now you too shall join the Great Cycle, and shall experience life in all joys and sorrows, but without the pain and burdens that first brought you into being."_

Then the light consumed all, and the formless soul felt a new kind of pain: the pain of creation, the pain of being born. Instead of torment, this pain brought delight and euphoria, and she cried out in ecstasy. Then the light faded, and all was void once more. Then she was rushing down, down, down...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The explosion threw Yamato backwards, through an already disintegrating wall, and into a swirling cyclone of reishi. All was confusion and chaos. When at last his body, or perhaps it was just his mind? stopped spinning, the Soul Reaper lifted himself to his feet and gasped in shock.

It looked like a bomb had gone off. A really BIG bomb. Debris and rubble were everywhere. Not a single house had been left standing for many hundreds of yards around. There was even a large crater three hundred yards to his right. Bodies were strewn all about as well, yet amazingly they were all completely intact, and, even more amazingly, Yamato could sense that they were all still alive.

"W-what the hell just happened?" he whispered to himself.

Then another presence caught his attention. A presence like that of fellow Soul Reaper, but far stronger, far purer, far...newer?

After first checking to see that he still had both of his swords, Yamato used Flash Steps to reach the crater. Upon reaching the center of it, though, the Soul Reaper froze with shock at what he found.

Lying in the exact center of the crater was a girl. Appearing to be about his own age (which is to say, appearing to be about sixteen or seventeen in the World of the Living), she was dressed in nothing but a highly tattered, standard Soul Reaper uniform, along with a large red ribbon tied around her waist. Her hair was a gentle shade of purple, and her fair skin had only the slightest tan. She was lying in the fetal position, and clutched within her arms was a square hilted zanpakuto.

"What is going on?" Yamato said to himself as he jumped down into the crater to examine the girl.

She was alive, only sleeping. To Yamato's further surprise, it was she who was the source of the powerful reiatsu that he had been feeling, but it was now steadily shrinking, swiftly suppressing itself until it was no more than his own. As the Soul Reaper attempted to process all of this, he became aware of the fact that the girl was very pretty, and that he was having trouble looking away from her.

Then another reiatsu caught his attention, but this one was different, strange, foul-feeling.

Scooping the girl into his arms, Yamato leapt up to the crater's lip just in time to see a jagged horizontal line being torn out of the air. The line widened, opening up space into the form of gaping, tooth-filled mouth, and a figure stepped through, the source of the vile spiritual pressure.

The figure was male and humanoid, it's body tall and gaunt. He was dressed in an all-white outfit that resembled a flowing lab-coat with wide sleeves that concealed his left arm. Instead of an arm, he had a large, egg-like structure with several thick spikes attached to his right shoulder. A green-hilt katana with an ellipse-shaped guard was stuck within his belt. His slicked back hair was black, and his one visible eye was blue. Covering his right eye, as well as part of his right jaw, were the remnants of what appeared to be a hollow mask!

"Tay Cay Cinco," the new comer announced calmly in a voice that was both gentle and harsh, with only a slight, unidentifiable accent, "Victór Benito."

"An Arrancar!" Yamato breathed softly.

He had learned about the Arrancars at the Academy, and had heard the stories about the war against them two centuries before. But never in his wildest nightmares had he ever considered meeting in face-to-face, at least not at his current level. It's spiritual pressure was just like how Captain Hitsugaya, Rangiku, and the few others he had talked to had described it: Twisted, nauseating, unnatural.

"T-Tay Cay Cinco?" was all Yamato could gasp out.

"It's Spanish," the Arrancar replied patiently, "Tay is the Spanish pronunciation of the letter T by itself, and Cay is the letter C by itself. Cinco is, of course, the number five."

"T-T.C. #5? What is that supposed to mean?"

"That," the Arrancar said, "Is something that your Soul Society will find out very soon. And perhaps you as well, if you give me that girl."

At that announcement, all fear was swept aside. This Arrancar, for whatever reason, was after this strange girl! Though he had no idea who she was, the simple fact that a person's life was in danger from a Hollow- whatever it's form- made his duty all-too clear.

Yamato jumped backwards as far as he could go, until he stood upon the end of the crater as the Arrancar.

"If you want he, then come and get her!" Yamato announced fiercely, "But I warn you, you won't get her easily. I am the Fourth Seat of Squad Ten: Yamato Insei!"

"Hmph, very impressive," the Arrancar chuckled sarcastically, "But I'm afraid that your bravery is the only thing that you have more of than me, and that too will be swept away by my power."

Slowly, the Arrancar called Victór raised his left arm until gravity pulled the sleeve down, revealing it to be like that of a human-sized marionette. Then, with equal slowness, he lowered his arm, until it was perpendicular to the rest of his body. Yamato was barely able to discern the gun barrel-like holes on the tip of each finger.

"Observe: Pequeña Lluvia de Bala [Small Bullet Volley]"

With that, a number of miniature projectiles of hardened reishi- known amongst the Arrancar as a Bala- fired out of Victór's hand with machine gun-like rapidness.

Yamato put on as much speed as he could to avoid the attack, but a casual sweep of the Arrancar's hand allowed the other to swiftly catch him. Over a dozen of the tiny Balas struck Yamato, causing intense pain and the cracking of several bones. Yet the girl was unharmed, for he had shielded her body with his own. The Soul Reaper bit on his tongue until it bled, determined not to cry out in front of this monstrosity.

"Hmm, it appears that you are tougher than you look, Soul Reaper," Victór said casually as he began to approach his prey- using his reishi to walk over the crater rather than having to walk through or around it. "However, surely you should realize by now that I'm too much for you. Give me the girl, and I'll let you go free. Cross my heart, and all that."

"You don't have a heart," Yamato bit back harshly, "No Hollow has any kind of a heart."

"Well, that's debatable. Now, are you going to give me the girl or not?"

"Bite me!" Yamato yelled as he threw a hand forward, "Hado #31: Shakkaho!"

A blast of fiery, crimson energy flew forth at the Arrancar, but Victór was unconcerned. Pulling back his fist, he punched the air in front of him to fire a single, full-powered Bala. The bullet-like reishi struck the Kido spell and exploded, sending out waves of heat and light and smoke. When Victór could see once more, his victims were gone.

"Oh, not this old trick," the Arrancar sighed as he rolled his eye. Then he shouted, "I know that you're out there! Give me the girl or come out and fight me, but don't hide! Otherwise I'll just kill these unconscious souls that are on the ground!"

Then to make his point, he fired another Bala at one of prone forms- Jay from Jay's Fine Lingerie. The blast missed, as its master had intended. However, the small crater that the shot had created was only centimeter's from the soul's head.

"Next time I won't miss!" Victór yelled, "Come out now!"

"No need for threats!" Yamato declared, using shunpo to put himself right in his opponent's face. Another blast of level thirty-one kido sent the other his opponent flying towards the streets of Rukon that were still standing. "I was just putting the girl in a safe place."

"Irritating pest," Victór muttered to himself as he stood back up, for the most part unharmed. "Now you've gone and put a hole in my uniform!"

A large portion of the front of the Arrancar's uniform had indeed been burned through, revealing the Hollow Hole in his stomach.

"That's the least of your problems, Hollow!" the 4th Seat Soul Reaper replied as he took one last Flash Step to put himself fifteen feet away from his enemy. "'Cause I'm about to burn you to a crisp!"

With that, Yamato Insei drew both of his zanpakuto and crossed them together away from his body.

"Shine Strong and Blaze Bright: Hikari-Ho no Ryu! [Dragon of Fire and Light (A/N: I think)]"

Yamato's reiatsu flared. His swords shifted form so that they resembled a Chinese Jian, the now-double edged blades transformed into blue-white energy and were engulfed in flame, and the entire area was filled with a brilliant light and blazing heat.

"An impressive shikai," Victór mused, "But nothing more."

"We'll see about that," Yamato replied, "Kan no Ken: Hikari no Ken [First Blade: Blade of Light]!"

In less than a heartbeat's span, the flames surrounding the two swords receded, and the blades of light extended outwards until they both struck Victór, pushing the Arrancar back until he exited the blast zone and smashed into a building.

Trusting that the people within the area had had enough sense to run away after the explosions that were taking place, Yamato rushed forward with a shunpo and shouted, "Shunkan Ken: Enkou no Ken [Second Blade: Blade of Flame]!"

Now it was the flames that became dominant upon Yamato's sword blades, and this fire flew forth in a continuous inferno, burning the building in which the Arrancar had crashed into, and all within it, to cinders.

Yet the battles was still far from over. A blast of reiatsu pushed back the flames, and the Arrancar Victór Benito walked out of the wreckage completely unharmed, save for where his uniform had been charred around the edges.

"Now you are getting very annoying," Victór said calmly as he approached. "Now it looks like I'm going to have to...,"

Before he could finish though, Yamato leapt forward and swung his swords at the other, only to have his blow blocked by the spiked egg-like structure that was in place of the Arrancar's arm. Victór punched at the Soul Reaper with his puppet arm, but the other was able to dodge and place himself the other's back. From this position he attempted a double stab, but his opponent's Sonido allowed him to escape.

"You're not bad," Yamato grinned.

"Oh, I'm _far_ more than that," Victór answered.

"I heard that you Arrancar have skin made of iron. Let's see if my Hikari-Ho no Ryu and I are able to cut through iron!"

"Hmph, well if my skin is iron," the Arrancar replied, drawing his sword while lifting up his strange right appendage, "Then this shield of mine is made of titanium. You'll never be able to cut me with this, much less defeat me!"

"We'll see about that!" Yamato declared, releasing another torrent of flames before using shunpo to slash at his opponent. The Arrancar leapt out of the way of the fire, then blocked the Soul Reaper's shining blades with his shield arm, and counterattacked with a stab. Yamato dodged, but not fast enough to avoid getting cut in the side. Victór then pulled back and punched with his shield; and though Yamato blocked this with both his swords, he was still thrown backwards and to the ground.

Victór charged this time, his shield arm raised up and his sword pulled back. The Soul Reaper rolled to the right at the last second, avoiding the ground shattering blow of the enemy's sword, and putting him out of range of the other's shield; then he flipped over onto his feet and slashed with both weapons in an attempt at a decapitation. The blades hit, but the other's iron skin caused them to only inflict a shallow wound across the side of the neck. Then Yamato was forced back as he narrowly missed receiving another, more serious wound to the torso.

"You expect to beat me with weak attacks like that? How foolish!" Victór mocked. "But if you insist on continuing this pointless battle, then I will just go ahead and end it!" With a speed that he had not had a moment before, the Arrancar placed himself directly in front of Yamato, his sword upraised.

The red haired Soul Reaper blocked by crossing his swords, but that was all he had time for before the egg-like shield came crashing down into his chest. One of the spikes that were on the shield barely grazed his head, another pierced a lung, while the third missed him completely. Even so, the impact alone was more than sufficient to knock the wind out of him, crack several ribs, and send him flying. Immediately after take-off, though, the Arrancar fired off a Bala. The attack shattered all of his cracked ribs, broke several more, and sent him crashing through two buildings.

Victór followed, an eager grin on his face. Once he reached the second house, his prey was attempting to stand back up amidst the rubble, but he put an end to that effort with a spin kick to the head, knocking down another wall in the process.

"I'll say it one last time, Soul Reaper: Stand down; or rather, don't get back up, as the case seems to be."

"Go to hell," Yamato grunted, unable to do anything else for the pain of his injuries.

"So be it," the Arrancar nodded, sheathing his sword and raising his left palm. Crimson reishi began to gather within his hand, and Yamato felt his whole body go cold as he realized what was about to happen.

"But I have a better idea," the half-Hollow continued with a sneer, "Instead of me going to hell, I think I'll send you in my place. Goodbye, Soul Reaper!"

A moment before the Cero was unleashed, however, a blue projectile of spirit energy hurtled through the air and struck Victór's shield, the resulting explosion sending the Arrancar off-balance and, with his concentration gone, causing the prepared Cero to dissipate harmlessly.

"Sorry I'm so late, 'Mato!" a familiar voice called out.

Looking up to the rooftop, Yamato gasped upon seeing his friend Akira Togashi.

"W-what are you doing here, you idiot?" Yamato demanded painfully.

"I saw that explosion earlier," explained Akira, "And I knew that you were supposed to be over this way, so I came to see if you needed any help. I guess it's a good thing that I did. So, who's this ugly guy? He looks like some kind of weird Hollow."

"My name is Victór Benito," the Arrancar answered irritably, "And it is quite rude to talk about someone as if they weren't even here!"

"He's an Arrancar," warned Yamato, "Be careful of him, he's really strong."

"An Arrancar? No joke? Heh, well I guess I'm going to have to be extra careful then."

"So, what's with the bow?" sneered Victór, "Are you supposed to be a dead Quincy or something?"

The nodachi and sheath that had been in Akira's belt before was now gone. Instead, he now held a six-and-a-half foot tall, Japanese bow, or yumi, with an alternating blue and white striped pattern.

"Sort of," the black haired Soul Reaper grinned, "My grandfather was actually a Qunicy who died in the Qunicy Wars four hundred years ago. My family's lived here in the Soul Society ever since, and I've always been fascinated with my Quincy heritage. Yet in the end, I became a Soul Reaper. However, I continue to honor my Qunicy heritage in everything I do. For example, my zanpakuto, Akai Hane no Suzume [Red Feather Sparrow], mimic's the Qunicy's famous bow in both appearance and abilities. And also...,"

Akira suddenly disappeared, and an explosion to Victór's unshielded side sent the Arrancer right into another building.

"...I've found a way to combine the Soul Reaper's shunpo with the Quincy's Hirenkyaku. Thus, I'm the fastest Soul Reaper beneath the rank of Captain. Not even Lieutenant Arisawa of Squad Two can move as fast as I can. And before you think that I've forgotten my manners, my name is Akira Togashi, Sixth Seat of Squad Nine!"

"Heh, more pests, wherever I go," Victór said to himself as he brushed himself off. "And, if you're rank is any indication, then you're even weaker than the last one, despite your speed, which, I'm sorry to say, clearing isn't mere boasting."

"Hey, don't make assumptions, friend," protested Akira, "Just because I'm sixth seat doesn't automatically mean that I'm weak. How do you know that there just isn't an opening in any of the other squads yet?"

"You wish, Quincy-Lover," Yamato mocked in a half-whisper.

"Shut up!" hissed Akira, "I'm trying to stall here."

"Hmph, what fools," Victór laughed, "I'll have you both know that I have excellent hearing. And what is more important, don't bother wasting your time stalling. No one else is coming to help. At least, no one strong enough to do so. It will take some time for the Soul Society to prepare a high-level team to investigate the surge of reiatsu that delivered that girl here...,"

"Girl?" wondered Akira.

"...And anyone that they send out early will be peons like yourselves," the Arrancar finished, ignoring the interruption.

"As if no one's going to notice your Spiritual Pressure, Egg-Boy!" Yamato taunted, "Even if you've been holding back on us so-called 'Peons,' even a cadet at the Academy can detect your twisted reiatsu from mile and a half away!"

"Idiot," Victór continued to sneer. "You clearly don't understand who are what you are dealing with. I am a special breed of Arrancar, one with special abilities far beyond anything your feeble mind could ever imagine."

With that declaration, a whirling vortex of screaming sound seemed to permeate the air, causing both Yamato and Akira to cry out in pain as their spiritual perception sense was temporarily overloaded.

Victór gave a hearty laugh as he brought the attack to an end before continuing on.

"You see what I mean? That was my ability: The Negro Sónico, or Black Sonic. It allows me to adjust my Spiritual Pressure to be released in a thousand fluctuating and contradictory spiritual frequencies in a piercing, painful wave. It's much like the militaries and police forces of many countries of the Living World, which use sound-based, non-lethal weaponry to immobilize enemies. However, unlike said human world weaponry, my power can also allow me to overwhelm any and all reiatsu-detecting surveillance equipment momentarily, and by constantly emitting my Negro Sónico at a low level, then once the surveillance equipment has adjusted to filter out the unwanted frequencies, my presence becomes masked. So you see, unless a miracle happens, you two are going to die right here. And sadly, miracles don't happen!"

With that, the Arrancar gave another wicked laugh.

"He sounds like that nut-job, Kurotsuchi," Akira muttered.

"No kidding."

Without warning, and in mid-laugh, Victór disappeared with a Sonido, and struck Akira with his shield, sending the half-Qunincy Soul Reaper up into the air.

"Akira!"

The Arrancar chased after his newest victim, his puppet arm charging up for a round of miniature Bala. But Akira recovered far faster than the other had expected, and so used his speed to get behind the Hollow once again and shoot him in the back.

Victór landed hard upon a roof, cracking several shingles in the process. Akira landed opposite him on another roof.

"Not bad," the Arrancar laughed, "But I'm getting tired of this." He pointed his hand and began to prepare a second Cero. "Shall we put an end to this?"

"I'm all for that!" Akira announced, drawing back his bow. "Akai Hane! It's time for a full power shot! Suzume Chikuden [Flight of the Sparrow (literally: Sparrow Flight)]!

A mighty arrow of blue spirit energy flew from the bow, just as the Arrancar's scarlet orb of destruction was fired forth. The two collided, and a mighty explosion ripped through the morning air.

**To Be Continued...**

**_____________________________________________________________________________________**

**Preview: **

Yamato- Whoo-hoo! An epic battle on the streets of Rukongai! Yeah! That's what I'm talkin' about! Hey, what a second! Why did I get beaten up so bad by a stupid Hollow? What kind of crap is this, Author!?"

Akira- Just calm down, Yamato! It's the beginning of the story, you'll get stronger than this wuss soon enough.

Tatsuki- Hey, Akira! You think you're faster than me, huh?

Akira- Err...

_Whoosh!_

Akira- Hey, my clothes! Ow! My nose!

Tatsuki- That's what you get, you jerk!

Chizuru- Heh-heh-heh, Tatsuki's distracted. Now I can sneak into Orihime's room and hide in her closet all evening!

Tatsuki- As if I'd let you, you freak!

_WHAM!_

Chizuru- AAAAAAAaaaaahh! *Ping!*

Rukia- Will someone _please_ do the preview right?

Ichigo- But Rukia, we're out of time!

_____________________________________________________________________________________

**Omake:**

Newly promoted Captain-General Joshiro Ukitake stood upon the dais of the Squad Captain Assembly Hall at the Squad One Barracks. His master- Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryusai- had only retired a few months earlier, and he had been Captain of Squad Thirteen for so long that this new post, and especially one of such high honor as this, still required a great amount of getting used to. Even his own voice sounded strange and foreign to him as he said, "This Captain's Meeting is now called to order!"

He looked down the twin rows of men and women assembled before him, rows that not too long ago, he himself had once stood amongst. To his left were the captains of the odd numbered squads: Captain Kurosaki of Squad Three, Captain Abarai of Squad Five, Captain Komamura of Squad Seven, Captain Hisagi of Squad Nine, Captain Zaraki of Squad Eleven, and the newest captain- the second captain of Squad Thirteen in over 2300 years: Captain Kuchiki-Abarai.

To his right were the captains of the even-numbered squads: One-armed Captain Soi-Fon of Squad Two, Joshiro's long-time friend Captain Unohana of Squad Four, Squad Six's legendary Captain Kuchiki, the Captain-General's long-time best friend Captain Kyoraku of Squad Eight, and... Rangiku Matsumoto!?!?

"Um, Rangiku, where's Toshiro?" the new Captain-General asked. At a glance, Joshiro could tell that this was the same question on everyone else's mind as well.

"The Captain? Oh, he had to go do something, so I'm filling in for him for the Captain's Meeting."

"I see."

"Wait a second, Whitey," Captain Zaraki, "We can have our Lieutenants fill in for us at these meetings?"

"Um, yes. As a matter of fact, Lieutenants, Third Seats, and any officer in your squad who has been granted permission may do so."

"You mean all these years I've been wasting my time at these stupid meetings, when I could have had Ikkaku or Yumichika come and do this while I did something more productive like fighting someone or taking a nap!?"

"Um, no. It's a new rule that I just had ratified. It should have been in this month's newsletter. Didn't you read it?"

"Hell no. We both know that I never read unless I have to."

The blank faces that Captain Ukitake was drawing from the rest of his former peers did not bode well.

"Rukia? You knew about this, right?"

"No, sir."

"Shunsui?"

"Nope."

"Shuhei?"

"No, and my squad runs the newsletter."

"You mean it never reached you!?"

"Nope, sorry."

"Oh, sorry Captain Ukitake! My bad!" quipped Rangiku.

"I figured as much," the white haired captain sighed, "Because I know that To-, sorry, Captain Hitsugaya was there when I signed that bill, and I gave it directly to him."

"Yeah, and then the Captain gave it to me, and told me to get it delivered to Squad Nine right away! But, of course, everyone knows that 'Right away,' doesn't REALLY mean right this instant, and I had to go and meet with Orihime, and Tatsuki, and Rukia for lunch, so I left it on my desk. Then I found out that my squad's former twelfth seat was having a party to celebrate his promotion to fourth seat, so I had to go to that, and I guess I forgot all about it after that. It was such a GREAT party, and I played SUCH a funny trick on him..."

"Oh, Rangiku...," Joshiro sighed, echoing everyone else's general reaction.

"Can't you ever be responsible, for once?" Rukia demanded, "You're the oldest of all the lieutenants and..."

"Old!? Don't say that, Rukia! I hate that word! Especially in relation to me! And anyway, why would I want to be a captain? It's such a musty, boring job, and you have to work hard all the time, and..."

"So where's Clown Face?" interrupted Ichigo.

"Captain Kurotsuchi? He's the reason why I called this meeting. Less than half an hour ago...."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Author's Note 2: **Just a couple of things I would like to let you all know. First off, I'm basing this primarily off of the manga, so as to avoid acknowledging any canon-ness...canon-ocity? meh, whatever... of the anime fillers. However, since I liked the general idea of the Bounts (though I disliked how the filler arc was carried out. Did anyone else feel like they were making it up as they went?), I may work them in much later, but with a totally different back story. If you are wondering how Senna fits into that story if I'm only going off of the manga...well, to tell the truth, I'm splitting hairs and saying that Memories of Nobody took place after the Winter War, but Chad, Uryu, and Orihime were more involved.

Second, since the manga is still ongoing, and since events are probably going to progress faster here than the manga (maybe =/), I'm inevitably going to make mistakes. Please bare with me. Whenever this happens, I will do my best to go back and fix things. Please help me out with this and let me know in your reviews and/or pms if I do miss something. Thanks.

Finally, I have a couple of questions concerning appearances:  
**1. **Do you guys think Soifon would go on one armed after her fight with Barragon, or would she have gotten a prosthetic, or have had her arm restored either by Orihime's Shun-Shun Rika or Kurotsuchi's limb-regrowth serum?  
**2. **Speaking of Kurotsuchi, do you guys think I should have him change his appearance, or leave it as it is with his new Pharaoh-look? If change it, any ideas?

That is all. Will update soon.


	3. Chapter 3: Street Fight, Part 2

**Author's Note: **Here we have the conclusion to the first battle with the Time Capsule Arrancars, and some foreshadowing for future chaos. As always, please enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I do not...

Kon- Lord Slayer does not own Bleach! Bleach is created and owned by Tite Kubo, and I own Tite!

Me- You own Tite Kubo...?

Kon- You better believe it! He's my slave! He brings me my meals every day, he makes sure that I'm well groomed, buys me the best sports cars and designer clothes that money can buy, and sees to it that I'm always surrounded by beautiful young girls that only wear skimpy, skin tight clothing. D-Cup bra wearers and larger only, of course.

Me- I see...Then how come you're the butt of every joke in every scene that you're in?

Kon- No! No! You got it all wrong! I have Tite do that on purpose, because I have to have some flaws to be believable. No one would go with it if the main character was absolutely flawless, even if that's how it really is!

Me- Uuuuuuuh-huh. Okay, the readers are probably getting bored now, so I'm going to start the story now, okay Your Majesty?

Kon- No, wait! No! I'm not done talking yet! I- *black out*

**Chapter 3: Street Fight, Part 2  
Fire and Ice**

As the smoke of the blast began to dissipate, a single warrior rushed forward at maximum speed, his bow notched and the arrow wreathed in violet flames.

"Ya no Superu Hyakukyuujuuhachi [Arrow of 198 Spells]: Hado #54: Haien!"

A single arrow, imbued with the power of the level fifty-four Hado spell called Abolishing Flame, ripped through the cloud of smoke and dust, unleashing a second explosion and a wave of extreme heat.

"Ha! Easy as drinking hot sake!" Akira congratulated himself, even as he panted for breath. The Soul Reaper had used up a large amount of his spiritual energy within the last few seconds, having used two of his strongest attacks consecutively, and he was in desperate need of rest. And so as he put out an air of calm and confidence (albeit out of breath), he was secretly sending his most desperate prayers to whatever god happened to be watching that the battle was now over.

Sadly, no benevolent gods seemed to be watching at that point, for a blast of reiatsu cleared away the smoke to reveal Victór Benito standing upon the air almost totally unharmed. Though his uniform was now ragged and scorched in places, and his shield was now burnt over as well, the strange-looking Arrancar was hardly less than full strength. Down below him, a small crater had been formed in the midst of the Rukon, and several buildings outside of the blast range had been flattened.

"Is this the best that you can do, Soul Reaper?" Victór chuckled mockingly, "Or Quincy, or whatever you are. Either way, this fight has grown tiresome. I will be taking the girl with me, and you and your friend will die. Goodbye!"

"_Girl?"_ Akira wondered again, but just then the Arrancar moved in with a Sonido and smashed in the chest with his shield. The enemy then flipped forward in place and brought his leg down upon Akira's spine, sending the Soul Reaper plummeting into the ground.

"Akira? Are you alright?" Yamato asked, moving towards his fallen friend as quickly as his injuries allowed.

""Gives me a kiss, Taka-chan..." Akira moaned nonsensically as he lay planted within the rock snow-angel his landing had created.

"Yeah, he's out of it," Yamato muttered angrily as he poked the other's face with his toe. "I keep telling you to get better at close-range combat, but you never listen for some reason. Dummy."

A shift in the reiatsu and a soft chuckle alerted Yamato to Victór's newest position of fifteen feet ahead of him.

"And now our game comes to an end," the Arrancar laughed.

"Not yet," Yamato growled as he raised his swords out in front of him, "I've still got one more card up my sleeve!"

"Oh, dear," Victór said with a bored sigh. "Well, come on, let's get it over with so I can be done with you."

"Be careful what you wish for, freak!" Yamato yelled as he gathered the last of his spirit energy into his blades. To himself, he thought, _"Okay, so he's about...fifteen, sixteen feet away or so. Just barely enough room. Still not very good at this, but oh, well.'_

"Sanban Ken: Ryu-Dono [Third Blade: Lord Dragon]!"

The flames and the light upon Yamato's swords spun and jumped between one another, creating a blazing funnel of light around the two. Then with a roar like a thousand lions, a great Asian dragon with a body made of fire, and a core white light, burst forth and flew straight at the Arrancar.

Though surprised and shocked at this ability, Victór nevertheless stood his ground. He raised his egg-shaped shield appendage in front of his body, and formed another cero in his palm.

With jaws gaping wide, the dragon consumed the Arrancar, then continued to tear through the streets of Rukongai before the living inferno exploded from the inside out, incinerating even more buildings and throwing globs of flame out in all directions, perpetuating the blaze.

Yet even then, the Arrancar's perverse spiritual pressure did not fade.

His jacket now almost totally gone and revealing the Hollow hole in his stomach and the black tattoo of T.C. 05 on his lower back, and his baggy pants now no more than a ragged pair of shorts, Victór Benito slowly walked along the burned-out trench the dragon's body had created, a wicked and malevolent grimace upon his face.

"No more," the Arrancar growled menacingly to himself. "No more play time."

His spirit energy now totally gone, and with the severity of his wounds starting to catch up with him, Yamato dropped his swords- now returned to their sealed state- and collapsed. With what little energy he had left, he stared up at the scowling foe that now stood right above him.

"I've had enough of this nonsense," the enraged Hollow growled as he lifted a foot above the other's head, and now I'm going to..."

But before Yamato's head could be smashed in like a melon, a small but fierce reiatsu flared up and the sound of steel slicing through flesh filled the air, followed almost immediately by a scream of pain from Victór. As the Arrancar turned around to face this newest threat, Yamato was able to see for a moment who it was who had saved him- or rather bought him just a few more seconds. It was the dark-haired girl that he had found!

She stood in a battle stance, her naked sword held out in a classic front guard position. Her loose hair, the large ribbon at her wait, and her tattered kimono flapped about wildly in the strong gusts of wind that her reiatsu seemed to be manifesting itself as. And though she was still as lovely as before, her amber eyes were half-closed and unfocused, as if she were sleep walking or in a trance.

"Must kill...Hollow...," the girl muttered in an empty tone, "Must protect...comrades...Instinct..."

"No! What are you doing here!?" Yamato yelled, "You should have stayed in that house where I left you! Don't worry about me! Get out of here ! Run!"

Victór shut the downed Soul Reaper up with a savage kick to the mouth, just as the half-conscious girl lunged at him. But the Arrancar easily caught her sword bare handed, flung the weapon aside, then grabbed her hair. With a scornful growl, he spun the girl in a single half circle around himself and flung her into Yamato and the still-unconscious Akira Then a fourth cero was formed in his palm.

"You three have been nothing but trouble," Victór said as the scarlet energy built up, "And now that I have all of you in range of a single attack, I'll have no trouble eliminating you. And with my mission complete, I will take my leave. Now be gone!"

The sphere of power fired. A river of death flew towards the three Soul Reapers. Yamato's life and regrets flashed before his eyes. The explosion. A burst of vapor drifted past Victór from the backwind of the blast. But, to the Arrancar's surprise, this was not the warm, bloody mist of vaporized body. This was cool and refreshing. Water vapor!

The Arrancar looked down. The three Soul Reaper's- and the one that was still conscious- were alive and unharmed! Then to his horror, the end of a blade came to rest upon his shoulder, and a powerful, freezing cold reiatsu filled his senses.

"Don't move," a stern voice said.

In defiance and fear, Victór jumped away with a Sonido to put himself out of harm's way and to see who this new opponent was. The Arrancar nearly had a heart attack at what he saw.

A young man who appeared to be in his late teens stood before the Arrancar. His hair was spiky and snow white, his eyes were green yet ic., and he was stern of face, cool and dispassionate. In his hand was a zanpakuto in the shape of an icey-blue hilted katana, with the guard in the shape of a four pointed star. On his back was the scabbard, and over his black kimono was the white haori of a captain of the Gotei Thirteen. His spiritual pressure was as cold as ice, and swirling snowflakes danced upon the wind all around him.

"Who are you?" Victór demanded, trying to remain calm, though the warrior that now stood before him clearly possessed power far beyond his own.

"I am Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya, Commander of the Tenth Squadron," Toshiro announced coldly. "What have you done to my subordinates?"

"How did you get here so fast? My Negro Soñico was supposed to mask my presence from spiritual radar."

"It may have, since no one else is here. But I was on the outskirts of the Seireitei anyway, and I could sense my Fourth Seat's spiritual pressure, as well as your own. I fought in the Winter War, I know what an Arrancar's reiatsu feels like. Now I won't ask you again: What have you done to my subordinates?"

"The same thing that I'm going to do to you!" the Arrancar yelled, firing a large Bala.

Hitsugaya, however, calmly raised his hand and summoned a wall of ice before him, which shattered in a beautiful shower of crystal upon being struck by the Bala.

"H-How is that possible?" a flabbergasted Victór demanded, his fear deepening with every passing moment. "You're not even using shikai yet, are you?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Of course I'm not," Hitsugaya replied, "There's no need to use that against someone like you."

"Then how-?"

"When a Soul Reaper who's power is combined with that of a single element- when their very soul embodies that one power- then they can, with training, combine their reiatsu with that element and manipulate it at will, so long as it is close by. Typically, only one Soul Reaper possess such mastery over a single element at a time."

"But, there isn't any ice...,"

"Fool. Mastery over the elements isn't just mastery of a single form of it. Ice in all of its forms- water, snow, ice, vapor- these are all mine to command, as you will soon find out!" With that, the greatest prodigy of the Soul Society stretched out his sword, and a wave of ice came flying down upon his Arrancar foe.

"Yeeeeeeeeaaaaarrrrggghhh!!!" Victór screamed, straining to put every ounce of strength into a last Negro Sónico. Waves of contorting spirit energy pulsated out towards the oncoming wall of ice, slowing it down and destabilizing the spirit particles. Then it was shattered by a full powered volley of miniature balas.

Safe for the moment, the Arrancar leapt into the sky with Sonido, but no more than seventy-five feet up, Hitsugaya caught up to him with Shunpo. The young captain swung his sword, but the Arrancar blocked the strike with his shield and counterattacked with a point-blank Bala to the stomach. Toshiro plummeted to the ground, and Victór sped onwards.

But the battle was not yet over. As he fell, Toshiro performed an unspoken release upon his Zanpakuto, swung the crescent blade which now hung from the end of his sword's hilt, and hurled it so that it was wrapped around the unfortunate Arrancar's ankle. Stopping himself from falling with the basic Hohō technique for walking on air, Toshiro grabbed his Zanpakuto's chain with both hands, and pulled. The captain's surprising strength yanked Victór out of the sky, and the Arrancar was tossed down into the ground with a mighty crash.

"Sit Upon the Frosted Heavens!: Hyorinamru!" Hitsugaya commanded, firing a large icy dragon down upon his foe. With surprising recovery speed, Victór sat up and fired a cero into the dragon just as he was about to be consumed, throwing up a veil of dust, vapor, and fire. When the fog of war had cleared away, the Arrancar was trembling, both from cold and from terror; his left arm severed from the elbow up, and the stump encased in ice.

"Give up," Hitsugaya said as he floated down to just a dozen feet above his enemy. "It's over."

"T-tell me something, _Captain_!" Victór spat as he held his frozen half-arm to his chest. "How fast are you?"

A puzzled Hitsugaya opened his mouth to speak, but before he could a final cero was fired from Victór _shield_, right at Yamato, Akira, and the girl. The Captain did not hesitate. Immediately, he flash stepped into the path of the oncoming blast.

"Sit Upon the Frosted Heavens!" he shouted once more, "Hyorinmaru!"

When the steam and vapor of this final clash of power had cleared away, the Arrancar was gone.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Okay, let's get these civilians out of here!"

"Yes, sir! Okay, you people heard the man! Let's go! Let's go! Back it up! Go about your business!"

"Unit leader! I found another one! Get a stretcher over here, ASAP!"

It was well over an hour since the end of the battle, and Captains Hitsugaya, Kurosaki, Hisagi, Kyoraku, and Unohana and their squads were now at the site of the battle and the initial explosion. While the troops of Squads Nine and Three went about keeping civilian souls from interfering or getting in the way, the Squad Ten and Eight Soul Reapers assisted the Squad Four Medics in their search, rescue, and aiding of civilians who had, despite Yamato's hopes, been within range of the fighting. The five captains themselves, along with their lieutenants, stood in discussion just outside of the hastily erected medical tent.

"Well, this was certainly quite a mess," Shunsui Kyoraku observed as he looked out over the devastation. "Who knew that one girl could be so much trouble? Then again, I don't remember ever hearing of someone falling out of the sky in a pillar of explosive reiatsu, so I guess it isn't so surprising."

"Captain!" Nanao Ise, Squad Eight's bespectacled second-in-command, scolded, "This is no time for jokes!"

"I wasn't, Nanao-chan," Shunsui said as he pulled his straw hat over his eyes, "Just making an obersvation."

"At least nobody was killed," Orihime Inoue Kurosaki said, earning a nod of approval from Captain Unohana and Lieutenant Kotetsu.

Shuhei Hisagi looked about grimly.

"So much destruction," he said softly to himself. "Will the Hollows ever fear the Soul Society enough that the Rukongai can be safe from them?"

"Unlikely," Izuru Kira, Shuhei's lieutenant, sighed.

"So, does anyone know anything yet about that Arrancar, or the girl that Histugaya's guy rescued?" asked Captain Ichigo Kurosaki.

"If you want to know about the Arrancar," Isane said, "You'll have to ask either 4th Seat Insei or 6th Seat Togashi when they wake up. But as for the girl, well, I treated her and she's pretty much in perfect health. I can't think of anything that could be causing her to still be asleep other than just being tired."

"Her reiatsu...," Ichigo began, looking towards the tent with a thoughtful look on his face. "I haven't seen her yet, but I've felt her reiatsu. It's...odd."

"True," Captain Unohana nodded, "It's like reiatsu I've felt from newborns who were born with strong spiritual power. It's _new_ feeling, for lack of a better word."

"No, it's not that," the red haired captain answered, almost to himself. "I mean, yes, it does have that _new_ feeling to it, but it's also...I don't know, familiar, somehow. Like I've felt this exact same spiritual pressure before, but I don't remember when."

"Ichigo?" Orihime wondered aloud with some concern.

"Yeah, now that you mention it, it does seem kinda familiar," Rangiku agreed, "But that's impossible, because I've never seen that girl before in my life. What do you say, Captain?"

All eyes turned to Hitsugaya, who up till now had not yet said anything.

"I think," Toshiro began, his gaze far-off, "That the girl's reiatsu _is_ familiar, but that's not what bothers me most. None of the rest of you were there, so you have no way of knowing, but that Arrancar, it was...different from the one's we fought two centuries ago."

"What do you mean?" Shuhei asked.

"It...," the white haired captain began, lost for words, "It was no more bizarre looking than any other Arrancar any of us have ever met, Espada or otherwise. But it was his reiatsu that was so weird. It was more like a regular Arrancar's in that it felt equally like a Soul Reaper's, and equally like a Hollow's, but with human reiatsu added in as well. And it was...doubled, I guess. Like it was a compound creature of sort."

The captain shook his head in confusion. "I don't know, the closest thing that I have to a comparison is a Gillian Menos Grande, but even that isn't quite right."

"Wow, even the great mind of Toshiro is stumped, "Shunsui said as he folded his arms into his sleeves, "Never thought I'd live to see the day."

Nanao elbowed her captain hard in the ribs.

"Whatever it all means," Hitsugaya continued while ignoring Captain Kyoraku. His face was deadly serious, and his forehead was creased with worry lines. "I know for a fact that the Soul Society is in for another conflict with the Arrancar. And one more thing: This Arrancar had at least one thing in common with a typical Arrancar created without the Hogyoku: It's power felt incomplete. The only problem with that comparison, though, is that it was not only incomplete, but also growing. I could sense it. And, even though incomplete, it was still able to evade me. And that means that unless we find this guy again and soon, we just might have enemies that are even more dangerous than the Espada!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---Seventy-five minutes earlier---

Victór Beñito stepped out from his garganta portal, cold, shivering, humiliated, and murderously angry. Shrugging his right shoulder until it emitted an audible click, the Arrancar allowed his shield to slide off his arm and drop into the sad, freeing his right arm- also like that of a marionette- and stalked angrily into the ruins of Las Noches.

As he stepped through the entry hall, an undulating, female cackle echoed throughout the long-empty fortress. Looking up, Victór saw, to his annoyance, his one female colleague perched upon a broken pillar.

"So, Victór, how did it go?" the porcelain masked Arrancar giggled as she flirtatiously hid her face behind a large metal fan. "By the looks of it, I'd say not too well."

"Damn it, Daki," Victór growled, "I don't have time for this. Where's Gossi?"

"I don't know," the female Hollow teased, "Perhaps if you said 'Please?'"

"Perhaps I could shove one of those fans of yours down that big mouth of yours, instead?" the wounded Arrancar growled, only to find the blade of a halberd at his throat.

"You dare to insult my Lady Daki?" a male Arrancar holding a poleaxe demanded, "For that you must die!"

"Now, now, Francisco! He's just angry because he got his butt handed to him by a bunch of Soul Reapers, isn't that right Victór?"

Victór just scowled and said, "I don't want to talk about it."

The Arrancar called Daki laughed her high-pitched cackle and said, "See? What did I tell you? Now put that thing away, Francisco, before you hurt someone."

"Yes, M'lady," the halberd-wielding Arrancar relented, removing his weapon from the other's neck.

"Things must have gone really badly if you're that mad," Daki laughed.

"I said I don't want to talk about it. And you!" Victór barked, turning towards a small, bearded Arrancar who had just entered the room. "Where _were_ you? I could have used your assistance, if for no other reason than to keep _this_ from happening!" He shook his still-frozen stump at the other for emphasis.

"Ah, disculparse[an apology], mí amigo," the bearded Arrancar replied in a heavy Spanish accent. "But I was sleeping. You know how important mí siestas are to me."

"Bah! Useless!" Victór spat.

"So then, Victór," a third male voice spoke as four more Arrancars entered the room. "Do you have anything to report?"

"Sí, yes," Victór nodded. "But first, I would like to use Gossi.

**To Be Continued...**

**Preview:**

Akira- Wow! What an awesome battle! Hey, wait a sec! I got beat silly too!? And I do NOT like Taka!

Yamato- Suuuuuure ya don't.

Senna- Hey, when am I going to actually appear!? I'm one of the main characters, it's the third chapter, and all I've done so far is walk around like a zombie!

Rangiku- Oh, yay! I'm back again! Go me!

Soifon- All of you! Go back to your duties!

All- Yes, ma'am!

Soifon- And someone do the previews correctly next time!

**Omake:**

It was evening, and Mayuri Kurotsuchi was most upset.

"Where in the hell is Nemu and Akon!?" the clown-like captain ranted as he looked over the frustratingly vague readings from the explosion earlier. "I should have none that those too imbeciles would be too incompetent to perform such a simple task as field research! I'm going to go and-!"

At that moment, a young woman in the uniform of the Department of R&D entered in.

"Excuse me, Captain," the scientist began.

"What is it, woman!?" Kurotsuchi screeched. "Can't you see that I'm quite busy at the moment!?"

"Um, I have a status report on Lieutenant Kurotsuchi and 2nd Chief Researcher Akon, sir."

"And? Where are they? Spit it out, woman!"

"Ummm, well, it seems that the Lieutenant is having some...difficulties..."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-East Rukon, site of the battle-

"What is true beauty?" asked Nemu Kurotsuchi in her typical emotionless voice. "Is it a beautiful body? A beautiful face? A beautiful shape? Or is it perhaps..."

"Come on Lady, will you please pick something, PLEASE!?"

Nemu, Akon, and Jay- formerly of Jay's Fine Lingerie and Swimwear- were gathered around a large, scorched blanket. Jay set cross legged upon the blanket, the last of his wears spread out over the cloth, most of them at least somewhat burnt, others were in worse condition. Meanwhile, Nemu stared down at the variety of skimpy outfits and make-up supplies, apparently lost deep in thought. Akon stood a bit off to the side, now on the phone with his Captain.

"I don't know, it happened almost as soon as the explosion happened, sir," Akon explained into his soul phone [pun intended, hehe]. "One minute we were sitting there taking measurements, and the next we were lying sprawled on the ground at the edge of a large crater, our equipment's circuitry completely fried, and Nemu babbling nonsense about being beautiful, or something. And now she's trying to buy a bikini, or a bra, or something from some now out of business shop-owner who lost his store during the explosion."

"Must be beautiful for the Quincy, must be beautiful for father, must be beautiful for Mistress Kusajishi, must be..."

"Lady, will you hurry it UP!?"

"Shut up, both of you! I'm on the phone!" Akon shouted irritably, "Oh, no, not you, sir! I didn't mean you...Yes...Yes...Uh, well my hypothesis is that the release of raw spirit energy from the explosion somehow screwed up her mental algorithms...Yes, I am thinking in similair terms to the humans' Electro Magnetic Pulse weapons for shorting out electrical equip-...Yes, yes, thank you si-...No! No! No, sir! I'm not criticizing your workmanship, sir! Of course not! I would never...No! I'm just suggesting that since she's artificial...NO! No need for that, sir! NO! PLEASE don't put me through the Consciousness Swapper again! I'm still traumatized from the last time you put me in a woman's bod-," Akon felt a light tap on his shoulder. "Hold on a moment, Sir, I think Nemu's trying to tell me something." He lowered the phone and turned around, then wished he hadn't.

"Sir, am I beautiful now?" Nemu asked, wear a bikini bra over her uniform, a pair of panties wrapped around her feet for shoes, and a bikini bottom on top of her head. "Let us concieve, and have ducks, sir!"

"Somebody please, shoot me..." Akon groaned.

**Author's Note 2: **Just in case you guys have been wondering, here is the current line-up of Captains and Lieutenants in this fic. Everyone on this list who is missing from the canon Gotei 13 can be assumed to have either resigned or retired. None of these are OCs.

**Squad 1:  
**Captain-General-Jushiro Ukitake  
Lieutenants- Kiyone Kotetsu and Sentaro Kotsubaki

**Squad 2: **  
Captain- Soifon  
Lieutenant- Tatsuki Arisawa

**Squad 3:**  
Captain- Ichigo Kurosaki  
Lieutenant- Orihime Inoue Kurosaki

**Squad 4:  
**Captain- Retsu Unohana  
Lieutenant- Isane Kotetsu

**Squad 5:  
**Captain- Renji Abarai  
Lieutenant- Rikichi

**Squad 6:  
**Captain- Byakuya Kuchiki  
Lieutenant- Mizuiro Kojima

**Squad 7:  
**Captain- Sajin Komamura  
Lieutenant- Tetsuzaemon Iba

**Squad 8:  
**Captain- Shunsui Kyoraku  
Lieutenant- Nanao Ise

**Squad 9:  
**Captain- Shuhei Hisagi  
Lieutenant- Izuru Kira

**Squad 10:  
**Captain- Toshiro Hitsugaya  
Lieutenant- Rangiku Matsumoto

**Squad 11:  
**Captain- Kenpachi Zaraki  
Lieutenant- Yachiru Kusajishi  
3rd Seat- Ikkaku Madarame  
4th Seat- Mizuho Asano  
5th Seat- Yumichika Ayasegawa  
6th Seat- Keigo Asano

**Squad 12:  
**Captain- Mayuri Kurotsuchi  
Lieutenant- Nemu Kurotsuchi

**Squad 13:  
**Captain- Rukia Kuchiki  
Lieutenant- Momo Hinamori

Until next chapter!


	4. Chapter 4: Making a Good First Impressio

**Author's Note: **Sorry for the delay, everyone. I've had a pretty busy summer so far. I would also like to apologize for this chapter, especially the last part. I've been off with quite a bit of my writing lately, so please bear with me, and if you point out my mistakes (which I would really appreciate) I will do my best to fix everything. I changed Rukia's lieutenant both on last chapter's extra and in this one because I realized that I had forgotten about Momo, and that she would much better suit Rukia as a second-in-command than Chizuru. Putting Chizuru as Rukia's second was a bit of a cruel joke on my part, and I apologize for that as well. So Chizuru is now Squad 13's third seat. :p Yes, I know, I'm a horrible person, lol. Please enjoy this chapter. Thank you.

**Disclaimer: **  
Kon- The author owns nothing of the Bleach franchise except for a DVD that he bought at Wal-Mart. I, on the other hand...  
Me- Don't say it, or I'll punt you into a wall again.  
Kon- Er, I mean, Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo!

**Chapter 4: Making a Good First Impression**

The first thing that the girl noticed when she awoke was that it was both bright and warm. At first she had to shield her orange-amber eyes with her hands, for the light was blinding and caused her slight pain. But as she became used to the brightness she gradually removed her hands, sat up, and took in her surroundings.

She was in a small room with plain white walls and very little in the way of decoration. A wood and paper sliding door was on the room's opposite side, while on her own were numerous medical devices for administering medicine and monitoring life signs, many of which were hooked up to her. An open door leading off to a bathroom was to her right, while a large dresser and a full length mirror stood against the wall to her left. She herself was lying on a low-sitting bed with squashy pillows and mattresses, and several thick blankets, while a large window directly behind her let in the light.

The girl put her hand to her forehead and ran her fingers through her shining, dark violet hair. Several moments passed in near perfect silence before she finally spoke.

"Wh-where am I? Who...am...?"

A single image, clear as day, flashed through her mind. Two worlds, two universes, suspended within a great void hurtling together for destruction, only to be pushed back by thousands, no, _millions_ of white robed beings, with a single dark haired humanoid suspended within the center of the mass of white.

The girl gasped involuntarily as the vision faded, followed by a steady yet comprehensible trickle of information. She was in a place called the Soul Society, where the souls of the dead came in preparation for a new life on Earth. She was, in all likelihood, in one of the medical wards of Squad Four, one of the thirteen divisions that protected the Soul Society from turmoil. She was a Soul Reaper- a shinigami, a death god- who's duty it was to send lost souls to the Soul Society, and to slay and purify the spirits of those who had gone mad and devoured their hearts by their own regrets. And her name...

Without warning, the girl reached down and pulled out the cords which attached her to the various machines with a single mighty tug. The pain was excruciating, and yet it also brought a thrill of delight. Pain meant life. Life meant second chances...She wondered for moment on why that second thought had popped into her head. The machines shrieked at her, but she quickly silenced them with a couple of good kicks.

Stepping in front of the mirror, the girl saw who she was. Large, golden-orange eyes shaped like fat almonds, shimmering violet hair that reached down to her shoulders, creamy-white skin with only the barest hint of a tan, a well proportioned- if somewhat lacking in cleavage- body. She shed her thin, white cotton robe and stared at herself, occasionally running a hand over herself to feel the softest parts of her skin. Finally, she placed her hand over her left breast and closed her eyes, reveling in the musical sound of her own heartbeat.

_'I'm alive,'_ she thought to herself happily, though she did not fully understand why. _'I'm alive, and...It feels so nice. So...right.'_

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Thanks for allowing me to come down here," a young man with fiery hair and a pair of katanas tucked into his belt said as he and his two companions strolled down the halls of one of Squad Four's wards.

"Oh, don't mention it, Second Lieutenant Insei," a meek-looking young man with bluish-black hair and a single sword with a blue handle and a circular guard.

"Err, no. I'm just a 4th Seat," the first one corrected, "So technically I'm Third-Lieutenant."

"Oh! I thought that with that big fight you were in with that Arrancar last week, you would surely get a promotion."

"Heh, yeah right. Every word that Rangiku says about Captain Hitsugaya being the world's biggest stick-in-the-mud is absolutely true. He even only cut down my probation period by one month, despite everything I had done by being there. Some nonsense about maintaining discipline or something like that.

The third person, a very tall young woman with short-cut silver/grey hair and carrying a bundle of clothes and a katana in her arms, stopped short and asked, "If you're still on probation, then why are you here?"

Yamato Insei also stopped, and a pained expression crossed his face.

"Well, uh, heh-heh...uh...I thought that, since I was the one who initially found her, it was my duty to...,"

"Ah, come on, Isane, er, Lieutenant Kotetsu!" the second boy pleaded, "It's not going to hurt anything! Besides, don't you think he deserves it, after what he went through?"

"I don't know Hanataro...,"

Both Yamato and Hanataro responded to the 2nd Seat of Squad 4's indecision with sad puppy-dog faces.

"Oh, fine. I won't tell Captain Hitsugaya," Isane relented.

Yamato grinned and gave 4th Seat Yamada an enthusiastic thumbs up, causing Isane to groan with irritation.

"I'm waaay too nice," the tall girl whined to herself, "I do hope that Captain Unohana doesn't get mad when she finds out."

The three continued on down the hall in silence for several minutes.

When they were almost to their destination, Isane spoke once more, "The Captain says that she's been stirring quite a bit lately, and believes that she will awake any day now; so... ah, we're here."

The three stopped in front of one of the doors. The removable plaque which normally gave the occupant's name said "Unknown."

"Hanataro and I will just pop in and see how she is, then we'll let you in," Isane said as she gripped the door.

Yamato nodded as Hanataro stepped forward.

Isane pulled the door open, and gasped. The Lieutenant of Squad 4's face turned bright red with embarrassment, while Yamato and Hanataro's eyes nearly popped out of their heads in surprise.

"Hey," the girl said as she looked up to face the newcomers, completely oblivious to her lack of covering. "What's going on?"

"Aaaaaaaagghhh!! Don't look! Out you pervs!" Isane screamed, shoving her male companions into the hall and jumping into the ward, slamming the door behind her as she went.

"What do you think- What's going on here!?" Isane's muffled voice came through the door.

"What's the big deal?" the unknown girl replied, "Don't be so up-tight!"

"Umm, what was that all about?" Hanataro asked.

"I'm not entirely sure myself," Yamato answered, "But I have to say, that wasn't a bad view!"

"Sir!"

"I was kidding, Hanataro. And don't call me Sir, we're the same rank. If anything, I should be calling YOU Sir, since you've got about two hundred years experience over me."

"True, but...,"

At about that moment, five people came around the corner in the opposite direction that Isane, Hanataro, and Yamato had come. Three of them wore the white haori coat of the Captains. The three captains consisted of a middle-aged woman with a kind face, long black hair tied up in a braid on her front, and carried a long nodachi; a man with short, spiky red hair, fierce eyes, and a six foot tall cleaver wrapped in cloth strapped to his back; and a short woman with black hair, a calm demeanor, and a regular katana at her waist. The two non-captains were both women, one with long red hair, a kind and cheerful face, and two flower-petal hairpins, and the other had black hair tied back in a bun and covered over with a cloth, and a kind, yet sad face. Both of the latter two carried a standard katana-shaped zanpakuto.

"Hey, Hanataro," the spiky haired captain said as the group came to a stop. "Haven't seen you around in a while."

"Captain Kurosaki!" Hanataro addressed, quickly getting to his feet and bowing.

"For the last time, Hanataro, just call me Ichigo. We've been over this I don't know how many times."

"Yamada," Captain Unohana said, "What are you and 4th Seat Insei doing here?"

"Uh, we were going to go and visit the girl, and...,"

"I see," the kind-faced captain nodded. "And where is Isane? I haven't seen her this morning."

"She's in there, Captain," Hanataro pointed towards the door. "She was with us, but, well, um, she kinda kicked us out."

"So, you're Yamato Insei," Ichigo said to the younger red head. "I don't believe we've met before."

"Uh, n-no, sir."

"Good job taking care of that Arrancar last week."

"B-but he got away, and he beat me...,"

"You protected that girl with all of your strength until Toshiro arrived to help. That's all that matters. Good work."

Yamato stood transfixed with awe from receiving such high praise from one of the most powerful (and, in his opinion, one of the coolest) captains in the Seireitei.

"Ichigo? Aren't we going to go in?" the red haired lieutenant asked.

"Oh, yeah. I was just about to say the same thing, Orihime."

"Um, I think that Captain Unohana should go in first and see if she's, umm, ready," Hanataro interjected.

"Okay, she's decent. You can come in," Isane's voice called back through the door.

As the group filed into the room, they were greeted by the sight of Isane Kotetsu standing next to a dark-violet haired, amber eyed girl who stood a little taller than Captain Kuchiki-Abarrai, and wore the standard soul reaper uniform (albeit heavily mended) with the addition of a large red sash tied into a bow on the back of her waist.

"Hi, I'm Senna!" the girl announced with an informal bow that made Isane cringe. "It's nice to meet you all!"

Both Yamato and Ichigo stopped short and gazed at the girl; and as she came up from her bow, the girl called Senna stopped and stared at the two red heads as well.

"Ichigo? What's wrong?" Orihime asked, her voice quickly becoming filled with concern as her husband stood unresponsive.

"I- I think I've met you before...," Captain Kurosaki stammered, half to himself, half to Senna, "But I...I can't remember where or when."

"Yeah...same here..." the girl Senna answered with that same faraway look. She then snapped out of her trance and asked half-mockingly, "Your name's Ichigo, right? Sure it fits, but it's an awfully girly name, don't you think?"

"SHUT UP!" roared Ichigo, instantly riled by the provocation. "It doesn't mean 'Strawberry,' it means 'One Who Protects!'"

"Oh, really?" Senna teased. "But last time I checked, a strawberry was an ichigo."

"Shut the hell up!" the red haired Captain continued to rant indignantly, much to the amusement of everyone but Rukia- who was merely annoyed by her long-time friend's thin skin- Isane- who was horrified by the mystery girl's lack of respect for one who bore the rank of captain- and Yamato- who was just amazed that one of his hero captains could fly off the handle so easily.

"It's spelled 'Ichi' as in 'One,' and 'Go' as in 'Guardian!' That makes 'One Who Protects!'"

"Whatever you say, Mr. Strawberry."

"Shut up! And what's with YOUR name, Senna? That comes from thousand, right? Well, thousand what? A pain in the butt to a thousand people?"

"Now that's just rude!"

"BUT YOU JUST DID THE SAME THING TO ME!!!!"

"Yeah, but at least I didn't use such a lame joke."

"Why you-!!"

Out of nowhere, Rukia's fist came crashing down on top of Captain Kurosaki's head, leaving him momentarily stunned. She then proceeded to grab him by the ear and reel him in towards her, followed by slapping him in the face.

"Rukia!? What the hell!? What was that for!?"

"IDIOT!" Rukia shouted into her friend's ear, her thumb and index finger firmly gripped on his outer audio organ. "We come in here to check on someone, and you just start yelling at them and making yourself look like a buffoon! Do you have no respect for your rank as a captain!?"

"But she started it!"

"I don't care! When you act like that, you not only embarrass yourself, but me and every other captain as well!"

"But still, you have to admit, Rukia, that was pretty funny," Orihime giggled into her hands.

By now, nearly everyone was laughing vigorously, though Captain Unohana did so somewhat discreetly behind her hand.

"Lots of redheads," Senna said casually, turning towards Yamato. "That's awesome. I love red. Well, I know who you are, though I'm afraid that I don't know your name."

"Uh, um, uh, my name is Yamato Insei, fourth seat of Squad 10," the young soul reaper stammered, suddenly going rigid and bowing deeply. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Senna!"

"Bo-oring," yawned Senna. "Don't be so formal. It's depressing to find out that the guy who saved you is such a tightwad."

Yamato loosened up considerably at this and a smile brightened his face, though a look of puzzlement quickly replaced it.

"Wait, you were conscious during that episode?"

"Vaguely," Senna responded casually, leaning against her bedside table with equal informality, "I mean, I was sorta aware of what was going on, but couldn't really do anything, ya know? I could hear, and I could see, and I could feel spiritual pressure, but I didn't quite...I don't know...didn't quite know how to respond to it all, you know what I mean?"

Yamato didn't, but he nodded regardless.

"And that thing at the end, when I got up and left that house you had left me in, and then used shunpo and my sword to attack that big freaky guy...I don't know, I think that was more instinct than anything. I was kinda out of it by then."

"So then, Ms. Senna," Captain Unohana asked as she took a step forward. Yamato moved aside so that the senior captain could properly address their guest. "Do you mean to say that you have no idea who that Arrancar was, or why he was after you?"

"Arrancar?" the golden-eyed girl asked, puzzled, "Is that what you call that guy? I thought from the spiritual pressure that he was some really messed up, mutant hollow or something."

"Essentially, that's what an arrancar is, yes," nodded Unohana, "But, please, tell me, do you know nothing of that creature?"

"Not a clue, sorry," Senna shook her head.

"Well, what do we do now, now that this lead's a dead end?" asked Ichigo.

"We'll just have to keep scanning the archives," Rukia sighed. "Perhaps there's some bit of data from when Captain Kurotsuchi raided Los Noches' databanks that we haven't found yet."

"And Ms. Senna?" asked Lieutenant Momo Hinamori, speaking for the first time.

"Her course is obvious," Captain Unohana responded, "She will be made an official soul reaper, and will join the Gotei 13."

"You mean it? Seriously!?" Senna exclaimed, both excited and, deep within, relieved.

"Why not?" the long haired captain asked. "You came wearing a soul reaper's robe, you carry what is clearly a zanpakuto, you can feel reiatsu, by both your own admission and Insei-san's report you can wield a sword and use flash steps. Of course we will have to test your full abilities first, but-,"

"Oh, yes! Thank you!" Senna exclaimed, jumping up and pumping her fist. This is going to be awesome! Okay, when do we start?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One week later...

Senna stood in the midst of an overgrown, emerald green field. It was the middle of Spring, and the grass stood over a meter high while various species of flower filled the air with their lovely fragrance. The gentlest of winds caressed her cheek and caused her hair to fly in violet streaks.

"Hyah!" she suddenly shouted, drawing her sword at top speed in an upward slice, bisecting her imaginary foe with ease. Rotating the blade, she proceeded to swing and strike from various angles, hopping about from one place to another with a dancer's grace. She never stood in the same spot for more than a moment, and her blade remained always in motion. When she had fought off the invisible hoard for over three minutes, she took a single flash step to the exact spot where she had stood at the beginning of the exercise. With a calm release of breath, she returned her sword to its scabbard. One and a half feet from every blade of grass within a fifteen foot radius fell and was caught upon the wind, forming a perfect circle of mowed down fescue.

"Bravo," Captain Ukitake clapped enthusiastically, "Very impressive. I haven't seen a sword dance like that in a long time!"

The Captain General, Retsu Unohana, Ichigo Kurosaki, Toshiro Hitsugaya, and their respective lieutenants stood several yards away from the young recruit, watching the examination of the girl's prowess with great interest.

The field in which they stood was outside of the Seireitei, close-by to the current location of the exiled noblewoman Kukaku Shiba (South Rukongai, 3rd district). It was noon, and the Soul Society's sun shone bright and strong overhead, obliterating the shadows and providing a pleasant warmth that left one neither too hot, nor too cold. A most beautiful Spring day, if ever there was one.

"That was amazing, Senna!" squealed Orihime with delight, "I could never be able to do something like that!"

"It _was _pretty good, Senna," agreed Ichigo.

Though she blushed slightly at the praise, Senna was not so embarrassed that she was above putting her hand behind her head and giving a cocky grin.

"It was... alright," Toshiro shrugged, not nearly as willing to hand-out praise as his peers.

"What are you talking about, Captain?" Rangiku replied, slightly irritated by her superior's callousness, though she didn't show it. "That was pretty good for most lieutenants. _I _couldn't do that, and I'm currently one of the, er, more experienced lieutenants."

"That's because you're just lazy."

"Ahhh! You don't have to be so mean about it?"

"Was there something wrong with her form, Captain Hitsugaya?" asked Captain Unohana.

"Well, not something wrong per-say," Hitsugaya admitted, "It's just that...well, performing a prepared set of moves..."

"Whaddya mean prepared? I choreographed that whole thing like five minutes ago!"

"...Is a lot different from actually fighting a real opponent. We cannot gain an accurate assessment of her full abilities unless she actually fights with someone."

"Hmm, you do have a point," Ukitake admitted, "And that could easily be arranged...,"

"Hey! Why not me?" a harsh voice called out from behind the high-ranked soldiers' backs. The Captains and Lieutenants turned swiftly around, only to find themselves face to face with a small group of Soul Reapers. Most were obviously cadets, as they possessed very weak reiatsu and were armed with bokuto. At the head of their column, however, were two with spiritual pressures on par with that of a fourth or fifth seated officer. One was a male of average height and build, with a mob of unparted black hair and a mournful face. The other was a tall woman with long green hair, an cruel and arrogant face, and a uniform that had been heavily modified to resemble a Chinese fighter's outfit.

"And you are?" asked Ukitake.

"Yoshi Ichinose," the woman announced in her harsh voice, "New sixth seat to Kenpachi Zaraki. And this is my weakling older brother, Maki, only a seventh seat." Maki gave a stiff bow to the senior Captain upon his introduction. "We were just taking these cadets out to train so that they'll be tough enough to survive Ikkaku's training, when we spotted you Captains and Lieutenants and I decided to come and see what was going on. I've hear d about this girl, Senna, and I'd _love_ to be the first one to find out how good she is. There aren't nearly enough strong women in this outfit as there should be."

"Hmph, and what about me?" asked Rangiku.

"Strong? You? Ha! You couldn't even fight your way of a wet paper bag, you whiny, lazy-!"

"Why you little-!"

"Enough! Enough!" ordered Ukitake in a strained voice. "Fine then, Ms. Ichinose. You may duel with Senna, but I must impress upon you the importance that this is _not_ a death duel. You are to push her to the full extent of her strength and no more. I am all too familiar with Squad 11's...enthusiasm for combat, and it's officers tendency to take even sparring matches too seriously. Understand?"

"Of course," Yoshi replied with a stiff, somewhat mocking bow that instantly put Sentaro and Kiyone into a tizzy. But before anyone could say anything else, the green haired warrioress has already flash-stepped into the midst of the ring of cleared grass.

"Name's Yoshi," she said with a wicked smile as she drew her sword and took up a deep fighting stance, "Let's have some fun!"

**Preview:  
**-Senna- Alright! I finally got to do something this chapter! Whoo! But, wait a sec, now I have to fight that psycho from the Bount Arc? That's no fair!  
-Yoshi- Shut up! I'm not a Bount in this story, and I'm only slightly less crazy. Now let's fight to the death!! Buwhahaha!  
-Ukitake- I said this WASN'T going to be a fight to the death!  
-Maki- Oh, woe is me! I have to be Yoshi's brother in this fic! Oh, woe is me! Where's my nameless captain!? Where is Master Kariya!? Boohooo!  
-Yoshi- Why is he in here anyway?  
-Yamato- Because the author thought his zanpakuto was cool, and because he wanted to cause Maki more grief for being a whiner. Incidentally, why did I wind up looking so bad again this chapter?  
-Senna- Hey, 'Mato! Did you like you what you saw? *giggle*  
-Yamato- GAAAGGH! Author, hurry up and start writing better jokes!

**Omake: **

"Oh, yes! Thank you!" Senna exclaimed, jumping up and pumping her fist. This is going to be awesome! Okay, when do we start?"

Just then, Yamato's soul pager began peeping loudly.

"Hello?" the fourth seat answered.

"'Mato! If you're anywhere near the infirmary or medical wards, you better get out of their pronto!" Rangiku's voice exclaimed desperately.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"The captain just found out that you're missing from our barracks. He figured that you'd come this way, so you better get out of their in a hurry, or you're going to be in for it!"

"DAMN!" Yamato swore loudly over the phone. "Thanks Rangiku. I'm on my way back now."

Lowering the phone, Yamato bowed towards his superiors, apologized for having to leave so suddenly and for the foul language, then turned towards Senna and bowed to her as well.

"See ya later, Senna. I hope that we'll be able to talk again sometime soon."

"I'll hold ya to that, hot stuff," the amber-eyed girl replied with a playful wink.

Yamato blushed slightly, then rushed to the door. He had just reached for the door handle when he felt a powerful, icy reiatsu fill the whole area.

"It's the captain," he gulped.

"Out the window," Unohana said.

"Huh!?" Yamato replied, greatly surprised and confused. His reaction mirrored both Ichigio, Rukia, Hanataro's, and isane's.

"Quickly, out the window. We will cover for you," Unohana insisted.

"Th-thank you," Yamato bowed, then rushed past Senna, onto the bed, opened the window, and, finally, he comically tossed himself out.

The others spared only half a moment to stare either out the window or at Captain Unohana, but they all turned to face the door just as Toshiro Hitsugaya burst through.

"Where is he!?" the silver haired captain demanded.

"Who?" asked Retsu calmly.

"My fourth seat, Yamato Insei," Hitsugaya snapped angrily. "He's supposed to be on parole, but he's not at my squad's barracks like he's supposed to be!"

"Well I haven't seen him around here, Toshrio," Ichigo replied casually, earning himself a death glare from the other. "Maybe you should go check the barracks again?"

"Rest assured, Captain Hitsugaya," said Captain Unohana, "Should he ever be found in this infirmary without permission while on parole again, you will be the first that I contact."

Satisfied, Captain Hitsugaya nodded and swiftly left.

"So, um, what was that...," Senna began.

"OH! CAPTAIN!" Isane suddenly cried out. "Did you forget that this room is three stories up!?"

An awkward silence captured the moment.

"Oh, surely he's fine," Captain Unohana reassured, "Three stories isn't all that high up. We'll put him back together again in no time."

Meanwhile, Yamato lay heavily face-planted in the cobblestones of the Seireitei's streets, bone broken, pride maimed, and bleeding profusely from the face and stomach.

"Owwww....!"


	5. Chapter 5: Induction

**Author's Note: **Hey, everyone! SOOOO sorry for taking so long to get this chapter up. I've been pretty busy this summer, and I'm easily distracted. I also apologize for the poor quality of some of last chapter, so I've gone back and revised it, so I suggest taking a look at that first before you read this one. Don't worry, it's just the scene change at the end so you don't have to read very long. There's also an omake in Chapter 3that I didn't like even as I was writing it, but I've fixed it now, I think. At the very least, it's better than it was. I doubly apologize for the lateness of this chapter because it was supposed to have been up a couple of days ago, and I am quite sorry for that. This chap. gets a li'l fluffy near the end, but that's just so I could get a few things in that I couldn't have otherwise, so please don't kill me if you don't like fluff. Anyways, on with the show, and, as always, PLEASE read AND review! 'Cause reviews are SUPER appreciated! It can even be an anonymous review if you don't feel up to the very difficult process of logging in, just REVIEW! Please enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **Bleach is not owned by me, it is...  
Kon- Hey! Hey! I wanna do it!  
Me- Are you going to behave?  
Kon- Yes, of course I am? Why wouldn't I?  
Me- You wouldn't if there were pretty girls around.  
Kon- Hah! I'm SO over such immature shenanigans. I 'm a new Mod Soul, baby!  
Me- Oh, well that's very good of you Kon. And here I was thinking that Stardust Queen and her OC Aria just scared you into behaving after removing your stuffing through your nose.  
Kon- Ha! Ridiculous! Ridiculous I say! Ha!  
Stardust Queen- Hi Kon! Just seein' if you were behavin'!  
Kon- AAAAAGGGGHHH!!! Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo! GAAAAAAAAGGGHH!! *runs away*

**Chapter 5: Induction**

Yoshi and Senna stared each other down for over a minute, both with drawn zanpakuto and with faces set with determination. Then Ukitake gave the command.

"Begin!"

The two women charged with shunpo. The roar of their clashing reiatsu was like the roar of two lionesses.

Yoshi's attacks were wild and powerful, while Senna's were swift and graceful. At last they came together and locked their blades together, accompanied by the sound of shrieking steel.

"You're...pretty good," Senna grunted as she continued to push.

"Heh, you're not bad either," Yoshi replied with a cruel laugh. Then she delivered a powerful kick to Senna's side, sending the Soul Reaper bouncing across the field with several painful gasps. "But I'm a lot better!"

With a savage yell, Yoshi leapt for her fallen opponent with sword raised high. The assembled officers looked on in fear, though nearly all were ready to flash step in at the last second should Yoshi seem unwilling to stop.

However, a blast of wind generated by Senna's reiatsu forced pushed the green haired fighter spinning backwards, allowing Senna time enough to jump back to her feet. Yoshi also landed safely on her feet, and as soon as she had landed, she launched herself right back at her opponent. Before she could complete her attack, however, Senna took to the air. Not with Hoho step methods, but with a miniature tornado that she had formed beneath her feet.

"What the...hell?" gasped Yoshi, while the others looked on with equal amazement.

"Bring them to the twilight," Senna commanded her now shape shifting zanpakuto, "Mirokumaru!"

With a flash of gold, her weapon changed from a sword into a shakujo monk's staff with a spear point at the end of the shaft. Her powerful blast of wind blew forth from her, with swirling red leaves of the Japanese Maple mixed amongst the winds.

With a yell, Senna let loose cyclone down upon her opponent with a wave of her staff. The savage warrior attempted to leap out of the way, but the swirling winds were too swift, and Yoshi was caught within the vortex. She gave a sick-sounding scream as she spun, but this was but a yell to help conjure up her reiatsu. With a blast of dark violet and dark green spirit energy, Yoshi broke apart Senna's wind just long enough to leap out to safety.

"Oh, so you wanna get rough, eh?" Yoshi mocked as she gripped her purple handled blade with both hands. "Well, maybe I'll get serious too! Shield me with your hand, and cut them all down!: Shi no Joou [Queen of Death]!"

With a sound like a blade being dragged down a chalkboard, Yoshi's blade split apart into a jian and a red metal fan attached by a length of chain.

"Take this, ****!" she yelled manically, spinning her folded fan and hurling it towards Senna.

The black haired Soul Reaper, who had been in the midst of redirecting her tornado back at Yoshi, was caught unawares as the make-shift grapple grabbed her arm. Then, with a savage yank, Yoshi pulled Senna (who's cyclone dissipated with her concentration broken) in and struck her with an equally savage kick. Then once the recoil had sent the new-recruit as far back as the chain allowed, she was reeled in for a second round of punishment.

This time, Senna was ready, however, and as she came in she struck out with the spear-tip of her staff, forcing Yoshi to parry with her sword. With this split second distraction, she was able to land a punishing return kick right to the other woman's face.

Yoshi fell, but only for a moment. Once she had regained her footing she charged, spinning her sword rapidly on the end of its chain. Senna stood at the ready, but the green haired woman's first move was not an attack with her sword, but to toss her fan at Senna. Instinctively, Senna knocked the blow aside, causing the rings of her staff to jangle wildly, and leaving her wide open for a buzzsaw-like strike right down her body.

Senna closed her eyes and braced herself, but the blow never came. Instead, to both woman's surprise, an orange triangle of energy popped into existence over Senna, causing Yoshi's jian to bounce off harmlessly. Then, before anyone could react, a length of thick cloth shot out from somewhere on the ground, wrapped itself tightly around Senna's waist, and reeled the girl in within less than a second. Before she knew what was happening, Senna found herself face-to-face with a grim-faced Ichigo, who wielded his massive Zangetsu with one hand, and supporting her with the other. She couldn't help but give a slight blush.

"Not bad, good job Senna," Ichigo said with a grin as he gave the cloth at her waist a sharp tug, causing it to let go of Senna and retract into the infinite supply on his sword's hilt.

"Are you alright?" Orihime asked with concern as her shielding Shun-Shun Rika- Hanigiku, Baigon, and Lily- returned to her hairpins.

"Uh- I'm fine," Senna replied as she was set down. "Thanks."

"Yoshi! This wasn't supposed to be a death duel!" an enraged Hitsugaya shouted up at the savage 11th Squad member.

"Sorry, Cap'n, just got a little carried away," Yoshi responded without concern as she landed down next to her brother and trainees. "Don't blow a gasket. Come on guys, let's go."

"Don't you dare-," Toshiro began to shout as the other group turned to leave, but Joshiro interrupted.

"Don't worry yourself over it, Captain Hitsugaya. It's over now."

The younger white haired Captain looked very much like he was going to worry himself over it, but said nothing.

"Ms. Yoshi," Captain Unohana called out in her usual pleasant voice.

The addressed and her companions turned.

"I would advise you in the future not to be so careless . It would not due if someone were to be seriously injured or killed in a practice match such as this. It would not do at all."

Though she had spoken in a somewhat concerned expression and in a benign voice, all of the Squad 11 cadets recoiled in fear, Maki stepped back and reached instinctively for his blade, and even Yoshi flinched.

"W-whatever, let's go," the green haired woman stammered and swiftly led her troops away.

"Brrr, I hate it when she does that," Ichigo whispered with a shiver to Orihime and Senna.

"Huh? But what did she do?" asked Senna with confusion.

"Hmm? Did you say something, Captain Kurosaki?"

"N-n-n-nothing! Nothing at all Captain Unohana, ha-ha-ha-ha!!"

"Well, now that that's over," said Joshiro, "I think it's time that we Captains conferred over where you shall be placed now, Senna. If you and the Lieutenants would give us a moment alone..."

"Uh, sure," Senna answered, "But why?"

"It's just a formality," the Head Captain replied carelessly, "Nothing you need concern yourself over."

"Surely not me, though, right Captain?" asked Kiyone, breaking away from her daily argument with Sentaro over who's turn it was to wear the Lieutenant's badge.

"Of course he means you, Shorty!" Sentaro retorted.

"Who's short!?"

"You are! What, you hard of hearing?"

"No, but you apparently are! He asked for Senna and the Lieutenants to leave!"  
"But you're a lieutenant too! Not that you ever act like one."

"O-HO! YOU'RE one to talk, you big gorilla!"

"If I'm a gorilla, then you're a crazy little chimp!"

"Enough with the short jokes already, Botch Face!"

"Kiyone, please!" Isane whimpered.

"Both Face!? Who are you calling a Botch Face, Flat Chest!?"

"Alright, that's enough! Both of you!" Toshiro commanded, knocking Sentaro hard over the head with his zanpakuto's scabbard, while Senna, Rangiku, and Orihime rolled about on the ground in tears.

"Alright all of you, get going," Ichigo said with a grin.

Slowly, Senna and the five Lieutenants began making their way back to the Seireitei, Sentaro and Kiyone continuing to bicker, Isane trying vainly to break them up, and the other three continuing to giggle amongst themselves.

"Now that that's over with," Toshiro sighed tiredly.

"So, what do you all think of her?" Joshiro asked.

"She has great skill, that is without a doubt," Retsu said "Rarely have I seen one with such reflexes and instincts at such a young age. And the only other person who has ever attained such mastery over their sword's element is Captain Hitsugaya. Not even Shunsui was able to wield his wind element without shikai until the sixteenth century."

"She's pretty amazing, isn't she?" concurred Ichigo fondly.

"She's quite rough, though, and she's easily distracted," said Toshiro sternly.

"But that IS to be expected of a raw recruit," replied Joshiro.

"Yes, and that bothers me," the teenaged genius captain said, half to himself. "As Captain Unohana reported while attending her at the infirmary, and as I myself observed when I rescued her from that Arrancar, her spirit energy is very raw... new, somehow. I don't think...," he hesitated a moment before speaking. "...I don't think that she's been alive for very long."

"In the Soul Society? Well, no probably not," Ichigo replied, "But what's the big deal about that?"

"No, I mean not alive as in- no, that's not very good. She hasn't _existed_ for very long, do you understand me?"

The other Soul Reapers waited anxiously for their colleague to speak, their faces grim.

"You were there at the scene of the battle, Ichigo, even though she'd already been taken to Squad 4. Even you should have been able to feel the remnants of her spirit energy. It's just too... too...

"Too fresh," Ichigo nodded solemnly.

"Yes, like a newborn, but even more so. And even if she _had_ just come from the World of the Living, why was she already wearing Soul Reaper robes? How can she control her spirit energy so well? How does she know her zanpakuto's name already, and can use it so well? Who could have trained her, even if she hadn't just come into existence. It's all so strange."

"Yes, and her zanpakuto's another thing that I've been wondering about," Joshiro replied. "A zanpakuto is a very personal thing, a unique weapon forged by one's soul. On very rare occasions, people will have a zanpakuto with a similar name, weapon, or even appearance with that of someone else, most often amongst twins are people who were a Soul Reaper in one or more of their former lives. But never in all my years have I seen a zanpakuto that was exactly like that of someone else's."

Retsu nodded, while Toshiro and Ichigo stood in shock.

"An exact replication of a previous zanpakuto? That's impossible!" breathed Toshiro.

"What are you talking about?" exclaimed Ichigo.

"Several centuries ago," explained the Captain General, "While you still lived in the Rukongai I believe, Toshiro, and long before you were born, Ichigo, there was a Soul Reaper under my command named Daichi Akiyama. He was a good soldier, but very inquisitive. This inquisitiveness led to disaster, sadly. Shortly before Kisuke Urahara and the Vizard's expulsion from the Soul Society, Urahara began experimenting on a method to traverse different dimensions, using techniques similar to our own Senkaimon, or the Hollow's Garganta, and Daichi was one of several volunteers from several divisions who were sent out to test the technique and explore new worlds. It failed utterly, and everyone who went disappeared into the Dangai, along with their zanpakuto. Daichi's was also called Mirokumaru, and it matches Senna's perfectly, from its appearance in sealed state, to its power to control wind and form tornados, and even its shikai form as a four ringed shakujo with a spear point. Everything about it is exactly the same. It's all very...very..."

"Familiar," stated Ichigo flatly.

"Huh? What's familiar?" Senna stated, popping head-first and upside down out of the tree that the four captain stood beneath, scaring the bejeezus out of everyone below.

"Wh-WHAT THE CRAP ARE YOU DOING UP THERE!?!?" Ichigo yelled.

"I got bored, so I came over here to see what was taking you guys so long," the girl replied matter-of-factly.

_'This girl...she's able to completely mask her presence from four captains, two of which are senior captains!'_ Toshiro thought with awe. _'How is it possible...?'_

"And I was bored too, so I came along as well," Rangiku said, popping out in a similar manner as Senna, though with her bust in serious danger of breaking free. Ichigo cringed visibly at the sight.

"Me too," piped in Orihime, also popping out from the tree's foliage hanging upside down. "Sentaro and Kiyone are so busy fighting with each other to notice. And Kukaku Shiba came by and stole Isane. Something about over-doing it on Ganju and some friends of his, or something."

"Blast it, Ichigo," Toshiro growled. "Learn to control your spirit energy."

'What!? ME!? What did I do!?"

"Well, isn't it obvious? They slipped past us because all any of us could feel was that humongous reiatsu of yours."

"SHUT UP! It's not MY fault that I have so much spirit energy! I didn't ask for this much! But don't forget, it's come in pretty handy a few times."

"I wasn't criticizing your reiatsu itself, only your control over it."

"Why you-!"

"Ichigo! Why don't we get you one of those spirit energy-eating eyepatches that Kenpachi wears?" Orihime suggested. "Then you'd look like a pirate!"

"I am NOT sticking any of those nasty leeches on my face! Not even for you, Orihime! No way!"

"So, am I in, or what?" Senna questioned, a bit irritated at being ignored.

"That still remains to be-," Toshiro began, but was interrupted by a simultaneous "Yes!" from the others.

"Ah, yeah!" Senna cheered, pumping a fist above/below her head. " I knew it. So, which squad?"

The four squad captains stopped to think for a moment.

"Are you strong at healing, or good at running supplies back and forth?" asked Retsu.

Senna thought for a moment, then replied, "Nah. I suck at healing. And if I had to run supplies around the Seireitei like a messenger girl- which I would hate because it would be totally boring by the way- I'd probably get distracted by something and run off, and nothin' would ever get done." She grinned impishly.

"Then she's no go for my squad," Unohana bowed. "Anyone else?"

"Well, she does need some discipline, that's for sure," Joshiro mused, his brows scrunched up in thought. "And perhaps a little training in being a bit more formal with her superiors."

"Plus, as you said Toshiro, she needs to polish her fighting up," Ichigo nodded.

"So...?" Hitsugaya asked, not liking where this was going.

"Congratulations, Captain Hitsugaya! Squad 10 is now one woman stronger!" Joshiro smiled, patting the younger Shiro-chan on the back.

"Yeah, congratulations, Toshiro!" added Ichigo.

"Now wait just one minute-!"

"I might not be able to accept that," Senna said unexpectedly, stopping everyone in their tracks. She had her arms crossed, and a pouty look on her face.

With cat-like grace, she dropped down from the tree and flipped over as she fell, landing solidly on her feet. Orihime applauded.

"What do you mean...?" asked Toshiro.

"What I mean," replied Senna, looking cross. "I might not be able to join your squad, Captain."

"And why would that be?" Hitsugaya replied, now looking equally as cross.

"Because, Yamato-kun saved my life back there at Rukongai. Even though I can't remember everything, and even though you were the one who ultimately chased the Hollow away, I'd be dead and that Hollow with a fat belly back at Hueco Mundo long before you could have gotten there if it hadn't been for him. And yet, you're still punishing him for something stupid and trivial! I can't stand for that!"

"It was NOT for something stupid and trivial! And how do you know about Insei and his probation, anyway? He hasn't even met...you... RANGIKUUUUU! Have you been giving Insei permission to run rampant around the Soul Society again!?"

"Umm...no...," Rangiku groaned dizzily, her face red from a blood rush to the head.

"Get down from there!"

"Yes...sir..." obediently, Rangiku released her legs from their hold around the branch and landed head-first on the ground, then tipped over and landed on her face.

"Ow, that's gotta hurt," mused Ichigo to no one in particular.

"Are you blackmailing me to get Insei off the hook for a serious in fracture of discipline?" Hitsugaya turned back on Senna angrily.

"No, I'm threatening to not join your squad if you don't let him off the hook," Senna replied without flinching. "And you clearly didn't want me anyway, so it's no big deal."

"I never said that, I was just protesting against having you shoved onto my squad without my approval."

"So then you're a control freak."

"That's absurd! And what gives you the right to talk to me like this?"

"Well if you aren't so up on exerting your will, then why don't you forgive Yamato for rescuing me? He hasn't been that much of a problem in the past, has he?"

"Well, no...," Toshiro admitted, then with returning irritation he demanded, "And who gave you all of this information anyway if you haven't been seeing him?"

"She has been talking with Isane and several of Insei's friends who came over, Captain," Retsu replied calmly. "And is it really so hard for someone to care about someone who's saved their life?"

"Well, no...,"

"So, what's it going to be, Toshiro?" Ichigo pressed, "Forgive Yamato one slip up, or miss out on having a really strong soldier in your squad?"

"You know," mused Ukitake, "She could always..."

"Alright! Alright! Enough!" Hitsugaya nearly shouted. "Fine! Have it your way! I hereby nullify Insei's probation. Happy now?"

"Captain Hitsugaya," replied Senna with a very self-satisfied grin and a salute that may or may not have been a bit mocking. "I would be honored to call yourself your subordinate!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So, where's Yamato meeting us at again?"

"Just be patient, Sen-chan! We'll find him soon enough. Oh, and it's at that fancy new steakhouse that that one guy from Squad 7 opened just recently. I heard Captain Komammura promoted him on the spot 'cause the steak's so good."

"I can't help it that I'm impatient. I don't like waiting."

"Oooh! What are you so anxious for, Senna? Does the thought of hanging out with 'Mato make you that excited? Should I start planning you two's wedding?"

"Shut up, Rangiku!" the other girl laughed.

It was the day after Senna's official induction into Squad 10 and the Gotei 13, and Rangiku had invited her for a Girl's Day Out in the Seireitei to celebrate. That was the plan, until Yamato had somehow found out about it and asked Rangiku to have Senna meet with him.

The pair strolled idly down the streets of the Seireitei, looking at the wide variety of shops and stalls that the more business-minded Soul Reapers had set up over the years. They stopped to try on and check out some cool-looking but ridiculously overpriced sunglasses run by a man from Squad 6, then spent over two hours trying on clothes at Rangiku's favorite clothes boutique.

"It's such a shame that we hardly ever get to wear casual clothes while we're in the Soul Society," The redhead whined as she returned a blouse that she liked to its rack. "It'd be worth how much these things cost if we could actually wear them once in a while. "

"Why IS everything here so expensive Senna wondered aloud as she tried on a blue skirt and tank top, "The only that I've seen so far that doesn't cost an arm and a leg is the food."

"Mostly supply and demand. Since we can use spiritual energy, we need food to live, instead of just feeding off of the reiatsu in the air like normal souls. Since the demand for food is great, food costs less. But since the dress code in the Seireitei is rather rigid, there isn't as much call for clothing and other things. Plus, a lot of the stuff they use has to be specially made or brought back from the World of the Living because it doesn't appear in the Soul Society, and since there's not a lot of industry in the Rukon."

"Rigid?" Senna asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow at Rangiku's obvious, and plentiful, bosom.

"In some respects more than others," the busty woman laughed dismissively. "Besides, there are _some_ privileges with rank!"

After leaving the shop, the two bought ice cream (Rangiku's treat, as Senna had not yet gotten her advance paycheck), and then continued onwards looking for Yamato.

"Man, this stuff's good," Senna thought aloud as she bit into her cone and shivered as the brain freeze set in.

"So, Senna," said Rangiku casually, "What DO you think of Yamato?"

"Huh?" Senna glanced up with a slight blush. "Oh, I like him. He's funny and sweet. Could do with a little loosening up, though. He's kinda up-tight."

"A little bit," Rangiku nodded. "So, what did you mean by 'I like him?' Did you mean 'Like Him as a Friend,' or 'I Want to Go Out with Him-Like Him?'"

"Uh," Senna hesitated, "I don't know yet."

"What kind of answer is that?" the other pouted.

"It...just...is...I guess," Senna shrugged, struggling to find the right words.

Rangiku pouted for a moment, but her face lit-up when her next idea came to mind.

"Wanna know something real funny that happened to 'Mato recently?"

"What?"

The flighty Lieutenant giggled into her hands for a moment, then replied, "A little bit before you came, I tricked Yamato into thinking that he had slept with me, and he FREAKED out!"

"Say...what? How?" Senna replied, somewhat disturbed and yet equally fascinated.

"We were at this party, and, well, to be honest, he can't really handle his sake, so he had to turn in early. So then I- or was it Akira? Anyway, one of us had this great idea for me to slip into his room after he had gone to sleep with a half-empty bottle of sake and lie down next to him...,"

Senna laughed hysterically as her friend recounted all of the details of the incident. As they discussed the details of the prank, the dark haired girl glanced up at casually at a reflection in a store window and stopped short, staring at herself and her medium-length tresses.

"Ah, man," she sighed.

"Huh? What is it?" Rangiku asked, stopping to gaze at Senna's reflection as well. "What's wrong."

"Oh, I just...I just really need a hair ribbon or something. My hair just doesn't look quite right for some reason."

"Yeah, you're right," Rangiku agreed after staring- this time at the real Senna- from several angles. "It does look like it's missing something...,"

Rangiku's thoughts were interrupted by a shout a bit further on ahead.

"Hey! Senna! Rangiku! Over here!"

They looked, and though it took them a minute to find him, the girls did eventually notice Yamato hanging around outside of a building with wide open doors. It was by his bright red hair alone that they had been able to recognize him, as one arm was in a cast, and part of his face and left hand were heavily bandaged.

"What happened to YOU?" Rangiku asked for them both.

"Ah, just had a bit of an accident, that's all," Yamato said, trying to laugh it off and yet with a look in his eyes that begged for them not to ask. The two women looked at each other and shrugged.

"Oh, before I forget, I got something for you, Senna!" the red haired male said happily, pulling a thin, rectangular cardboard box out from between his belt and handed it to Senna. "Think of it as a gift for making it to Squad 10!"

"Oh! Thanks! I love it!" the amber eyed girl squealed in surprise upon opening the box and finding a bright red hair ribbon lying inside.

"Well, well, speak of the devil," Rangiku muttered to herself in surprise.

"I remembered that you said you liked red, so-,"

"You're great, 'Mato! Thanks!" Senna interrupted, hugging him (and accidently inflicting pain to the injuries concealed by his robes) and then kissing him on the cheek, which immediately caused the boy's brain to melt into a puddle on the spot. "I guess I can forgive you, then," she said as she turned towards another window and used it as a mirror to tie the ribbon in place.

"For what?"

"For being a tramp," she replied matter-of-factly, trying hard to conceal her grin.

"Wha-But-How-Why...!?" the young man went off into a tizzy.

"I told her, 'Mato," Rangiku laughed at his reaction.

"But why-!?"

"Don't worry, I'm just teasing ya!" Senna laughed as she turned back to face him. "She explained the whole thing, and how it was just a prank, and that you didn't really sleep with her."

"Just...a prank...? Nothing...happened?"

"You didn't tell him!?" Senna stared at her friend in surprise.

"Oops, guess I forgot," Rangiku chortled behind her hand. "My bad."

"Nothing...happened..."

"Is that disappointment in your voice, Yamato Insei?" Senna demanded in mock anger.

"NO! NO!"

"Wouldn't surprise me if it was though," Rangiku said with a playful wink. "By the way, Senna, that ribbon really did it. Nice work, Insei."

"Th-thanks..."

"Well, I'll catch you two lovebirds later. I've got some...paperwork to do! Yeah! Paperwork! I'll, uh, see ya later!" With that, Rangiku took off like a bullet and disappeared.

"She's SO going to spy on us," Senna said with a half-mad, half-amused look.

"L-love birds?" Yamato continued to stammer.

"You're so up-tight, 'Mato!" the purple haired girl scolded, "Aren't you taking me to dinner, or something?"

"Was I? Oh, right, I was! Hehehehe!" Pulling himself back to his feet and brushing himself off, Yamato held out his good arm to her in gentlemanly fashion. "Shall we?"

"Oh, yes. Let's!" she replied, taking his arm, and together they entered into the steakhouse.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, at the Department of Research and Development command center, Mayuri Kurotsuchi sat hunched over a private terminal, going over all of the data that he had stolen from Las Noches during the Winter War with a fine-toothed comb. He had been in much this same position for well over a week, and his limbs were sore, and his eyes tired.

"This is absolutely ridiculous," the grotesque Captain complained to himself not for the first time. "To even suggest that I do not have every single last detail of every single thing I took from Aizen's databanks and research? Insulting! And for that matter, why am I even bothering- wait a moment! What is this?"

To Mayuri's surprise and rage, a detail that he had never before been aware of came before his sight. He was on a page of a list of various experiments that Aizen had performed whilst creating his Arrancar Army. Most were rejects who had either not survived their own creation, or whom Aizen himself had disposed of after he had completed them for various reasons. A few others Kurotsuchi recognized as names of the Numeros and Espada. But now, he found himself staring at ten new additions to the list, all with only the letters T, C, and P in the name slot, followed by a number from one to ten. Under the status bar, they all said the same thing: Put in Stasis; Successful Revival.

"Wh-what is going on here!?" Mayuri demanded, but just then, as if in answer to his query, the computer screen began to fizzle and go fuzzy, as if it were a television set with a bad reception. Then, to the Captain's wonder and fear, a familiar, brown haired face engulfed the screens, looking out at the 12th Division Captain with his cold, brown eyes as if he could actually see him.

"It's been a long time, has it not, Mayuri Kurotsuchi?" said Sosuke Aizen in his usual, polite but emotionless voice. "I believe that there is something that I possess that you would like to have..."

**Preview:  
**Rangiku- Yay! *in sing-song voice* We get to go-a shopping! Shopping! Shopping!  
Senna- In the human world? Next chapter?  
Rangiku- You know it!  
Senna- Woo!  
Akira- Alright, 'Mato! Senna kissed ya!  
Yamato- Well...it was really more of a brother/sister and/or cousin-type peck on the cheek deal.  
Akira- Who cares?  
Daki- Hmmm, you boys better not get to comfortable in the spotlight, cause next chapter it's going to go where it rightfully belongs: To ME!  
Senna- Oh, yeah!? Bring it on!  
Toshiro- And here I thought that we were actually going to do a real preview! Rangiku, do the preview right!  
Rangiku- But Captain, we're out of time!

**Omake**

Nearby, one who was not supposed to be there watched the battle with concern.

"Oh, Senna! You just had to get paired up with Yoshi, didn't you? Well, be careful," Yamato thought aloud to himself as he lowered his telescope.

"What? What's going on?" one of his companion asked.

"She was doing well until just a minute ago, but she just got kicked across the field like a ragdoll."

"That Yoshi's a real piece of work," the other companion, Akira, said angrily. "She's brutal even by Squad 11 standards. Would always kick me in the groin during sparring matches at the Academy too, the cheating..."

"I'll say!" the other, a broad man with a face that looked it had been clumsily chiseled out of rock. "Just last week, she was running through the Rukongai looking for challenges, and then beat up me and my whole gang when we wouldn't buy her lunch. I'm telling you, she's crazy! She tried to eat my Bonny, even though she was still alive! The poor girl's still got a huge bite mark on her rump!"

"Errr, that's a bit too much info, Ganju," Yamato said as he put the telescope back up to his face, not an easy task since one of his arms was still in a cast from his fall out of Senna's room.

"What is happening, sir? What is going on?" the first companion to speak, a huge, overly muscled man with a thin mustache and a white, Chinese-style outfit and a red hat.

"Shh, hold on Koganehiko," Yamato retorted, "I-"

"Master Ganju! Koganehiko!" Koganehiko's twin brother, the tan-wearing Shiroganehiko, shouted up to them from the base of their observation tower.

"What now, Shiroganehiko?" Ganju shouted back.

"We must flee! Mistress Kukaku has just returned from her trip, and she is very angry about something!"

"When _isn't_ she very angry about something?" Ganju muttered to himself, but just then an angry shout rose up from beneath them.

"HEY! What do you idiots think you're doing up there? Ganju! Where are those new crane orbs you said you were going to make? Get your butts down here, now!"

A deadly silence fell over the group as the four froze in fear.

"I said get your asses down here NOW!!"

An explosion erupted from the base of the observation tower, and the entire burning structure collapsed into a large bonfire a moment later.

"MASTER GANJU! KOGANEHIKO!!!" Shiroganehiko screamed.

"Ah, don't worry," Kukaku said as she took another whiff of her pipe. "They'll be fine. Probably."

"PROBABLY!?"


	6. Chapter 6: The Terrible Mall of Carnage

**Author's Note: **So sorry for taking so long to get this chapter up- Gaah! Please! Stop throwing rocks! Aaah! *Ahem* Once again, sorry for taking so long. Been real busy this summer, and I had an awful time getting motivated with the beginning parts. With any luck, the next chapter won't take so long to get up, but don't hold your breath. I'm starting college next week, so it'll likely be quite hectic. Luckily, I only have two classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so maybe I'll be able to get stuff done then… Maybe. Thanks to Stardust Dreams and all of her support and zany antics, and thanks to the rest of you readers as well. Just **PLEASE** remember to post a review. Those are the only indication that this is being read and appreciated beyond someone's Favoriting of the story, and the only way at all to get constructive criticism and feedback. So **PLEASE REVIEW, EVEN IF IT IS ANNONYMOUS!!!**

Also, after reading this chapter, do you think that I should start rating it M? It's kinda gory near the end.

**Disclaimer: **  
- Kon- Bleach is…*spots an odd looking rock in pile of stones chucked at me earlier* Oh? What's this? Why's there a metal pin on this one. *pulls pin* Huh, and what's that ticking sound? Huh, weird rock *tosses directly behind him* **KA-BOOM!  
- **Noba the Mod Soul- Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo. Kon will be back for next chapter's disclaimer, as soon as Ririn and Kurodo finish putting him back together.  
- Kurodo- Is this an arm or a leg?  
- Ririn- No, you idiot! That's an ear!  
- Kurodo- Oh.  
- Noba- Or...maybe not...

**Chapter 6:  
The Terrible Mall of Carnage**

It was about two weeks after Senna's induction into the Gotei 13 and Squad Ten when the suggestion to go and visit the World of the Living came up. Senna had been on her way to her third Soul Reaper Women's Association meeting with Rangiku when she first heard about it, overhearing it from the whispers of the other Soul Reaper women as they made their way to club's meeting place at Byakuya Kuchiki's estate.

"Did you hear?" one girl who looked to be the same age that Senna looked whispered, "President Kusajishi's been planning to take us on a trip to the World of the Living!"

"This better not be a prank, or for something stupid!" her companion grumped. "Remember the last time someone got sent over there? The older Lieutenant Kotetsu got sent to shoplift candy bars from one of those Wal-Mart places, and wound up spending the night in a jail when she got caught. The poor girl was traumatized for weeks!"

"No, seriously! It's supposed to be this big outing and...,"

"Hey, Rangiku? What's the World of the Living Like?" asked Senna to her tall companion.

"It's AMAZING!" the busty lieutenant replied with stars in her eyes. "They've got all sorts of clothes, and foods, and plenty of great shopping and...,"

"Ferris Wheels?" the amber eyed 4th seat suggested suddenly, her scarlet hair ribbon and multi-tailed ponytail bobbing as she skipped along to keep up with Rangiku's longer strides.

"Yeah, they've got Ferris Wheels," Rangiku replied, "I don't mind them so much, but Yachiru loves them. Of course, she loves any kind of ride. Why do you ask?"

"Dunno," Senna replied, "It just...popped into my head. Though I know I'd like to ride one. I love being way up high!"

Rangiku nodded at this, well aware that this was true. The younger Soul Reaper had been caught on several occasions lounging around on the roof of the Squad 10 barracks, and had been spotted more than once (by Rangiku and others) eating lunch with Yamato on top of the broken scaffold of the Sokyoku.

"So then, Sen-chan, do you remember anything about being alive?"

"Not really," the addressed shook her head, "Just...bits and pieces." It wasn't a complete lie, but what was she going to say? That she had various faint images of Captain Kurosaki from when he was alive? Guys in black armor and dark green robes like a Soul Reaper's trying to kidnap her? Weird, ghost-like creatures in white robes and red hoods? Something about a Shinenju, and a Valley of Screams? Of course, not! Rangiku would just think that she was making a joke, or crazy. "So? What about you?"

"Not a thing," the red head shook her head. "The furthest back that I can remember is starving to death in the Rukon as a child, and being rescued by Gin...,"

Senna nodded in understanding and let the subject drop. She had heard all about the Winter War, and about the traitorous Captain Gin Ichimaru who had fought against the Soul Society, and how he had once been one of Rangiku's closest friends. The Lieutenant never talked about him voluntarily, and whenever he was brought up, she would either change the subject immediately or go into an uncharacteristic brooding silence, like now.

The two officers continued their walk through the Kuchiki grounds in silence.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"And finally, for new business...," Nanao Ise, secretary of the Soul Reaper Women's Association (formerly Vice-President until replaced by Nemu Kurotsuchi by Yashiru Kusajishi as a reward for being such a good partner in mischief)read off the list of subjects of discussion for the meeting. Having at last gotten a hold of the business list several hours before the meeting, Nanao had been able to adjust it so that, for once, something would get done during the meeting aside from more of President Yachiru's pranks. Meanwhile, the disappointed pink-haired lieutenant sat with her head down on her podium, half asleep with boredom and absently picking her nose.

Senna sat in the front row between a snoozing Rangiku and the attentive captain of Squad 13, Rukia Kuchiki-Abarrai. She stifled a yawn, hoping that the trip to the World of the Living would be brought up soon.

"...And, finally," Nanao finally said. A ripple seemed to sweep through the crowd of heads as the gathered members were jolted back from their naps and boredom-induced stupors. "Due to frequent requests from various members...," Nanao's eyes swept back and forth from Rangiku in front of her to Yachiru behind her, "And with permission from Captains Unohana, Soifon, and Abarrai, this coming Friday the entire Soul Reaper Women's Association will go on a field trip to a shopping mall in the World of the Living, followed by a night-long beach party. Do NOT forget to have your Soul Points cashed in for human currency, and to bring along either a swimsuit, or to buy one when we arrive."

A great, multi-voiced, high-pitched cheer rang throughout the supposedly secret room in Byakuya Kuchiki's house. The sound waves echoed throughout much of the mansion, causing the legendary Sixth Division Captain to leave a fat blot on his paper while in the midst of calligraphy practice.

"Why can't they find someplace else to have their meetings," the handsome captain grouched to himself as he made to clean up the mess.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday arrived, and the Soul Society was abuzz as the members of the SRWA prepared for their trip. Much of the Department of Research and Development's stock of female gigais was depleted, as well as quite a bit of its Soul Candy supply, and the 50-75% off sales at many of the Seireitei's various troop-run clothing and accessory stores caused many a stampede throughout the streets. At long last, the members of the Soul Reaper Women's Association stood before the massive gates of the Senkaimon, a sea of black Hell Butterflies fluttering above them like a small storm cloud. Many of the men were also there, using the opportunity to see the ladies off as an excuse to get out of their regular duties and practices, while the male Captains stood on stand-by so as to minimize the chaos.

"Alright then, is this everyone?" Captain Unohana asked, a clip board with several pages of names cradled in her arms. Her normally calm demeanor was starting to give way to a bit of strain. It had been a very long morning.

"Hey, where's Lieutenant Kurosaki?" someone asked.

"Oh, yes, where is Lieutenant Kurosaki?" replied Unohana with a tired sigh, "Isn't she supposed to be here to help monitor things with the rest of the lieutenants?"

"I think I saw her and Tat, er, Lt. Arisawa...," Momo Hinamori, lieutenant of Squad 13, began.

"ORIHIMEEEEEEE!!" Chizuru Honsho, third seat of Squad 13 cried out in horror, "WHERE ARE YOOOOOOOU!!??"

"She's here! We're coming!" second seat of Squad 2 and second-in-command of the Special Forces Tatsuki Arisawa replied, speeding to the head of the assembly area with her red headed friend in tow. "Sorry we're late, Captain. Orihime was having some issues with her gigai."

"It wouldn't get stay on for some reason, but we finally managed," Orihime giggled.

"How did you get it to stay, finally?" Chizuru asked of her former and still current object of obsession.

"Duct Tape!" Orihime announced, striking a pose.

"Rats," Yachiru snapped her fingers as she whispered to her chief lackey. "Make a note of that, 'Gigais still able to be fixed with duct tape.'"

"Yes, Madam President," Nemu Kurotsuchi replied, inputting the memo into her electronic planner.

"Wow, this is pretty chaotic," Senna admired.

"Oh, this'll be nothing compared to once we actually get there!" Rangiku replied gleefully. "Actually, I'm rather excited about the whole prospect. The Soul Society's never let this many people into the World of the Living at once before."

"You're kidding...," the shorter girl replied with a mix of excitement and mild terror.

Before her companion could reply, however, one of the Kido Corpsman at the forefront announced in a loud voice, "All preparations complete! Open the Senkaimon!"

With a great roar of scraping stone and metal, the inter-dimensional gateway swung open, revealing not but a white void beyond. Then the ladies of the SRWA jumped through all at once, and into the world of life beyond.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just as Rangiku had promised, the entire day was nothing but chaos.

It began with the complete and total bewilderment of several dozen humans as they watched a large number of young women (most of them in outdated clothing) filed out of a small, dead-end alley; and then continued as the local shopping mall- currently one of the largest in the world- was stormed by many screaming females out on a shopping spree.

Senna- dressed in a light brown school uniform- walked alongside Rangiku, Kiyone, and Isane. After a long afternoon of trying on and buying clothes, picking up various souvenirs, and weirding out humans with their odd, they went down to the food court to grab something to eat. Senna had just begun to shove a cheeseburger into her mouth when a haughty, scorn-filled voice reverberated across the room towards her and her companions.

"What do you mean that I can't haggle for a lower price?" the voice screeched, "Are you saying that someone like myself doesn't deserve to be treated better?"

"N-no ma'am! Not at all!"

Turning around in their seats, the Soul Reaper women saw three people standing just of a designer clothes store. One was a pudgy man of average height in an expensive suit and a fancy, curly mustache, obviously the shop's owner. Standing before and in the face of the owner was a woman of average height and slender build, wearing a white sleeveless tank top and knee-length black skirt, and long, lustrous black hair that was done up in an ornate oriental style. Standing behind the woman with an armful of bags was a short man with short cropped hair and a blue polo shirt and tan slacks.

"Then what are you saying then?" the woman snarled, "Speak quickly, worm!"

"I-it's just that-,"

"Bah! Fool! I am royalty! That you would dare even speak to me as an equal-!"

"Madam, please! Just pay the full price, or I'll be forced to call security on you."

"If you dare lay a hand on my mistress-," the short man threatened, but the woman cut him off.

"Never mind, Francisco," the woman relented with a sigh, "This conversation grows wearisome. Give the greedy peasant what he asks for, and let us be on our way."

"Yes, mistress," the short man replied, grudgingly pulling out his wallet to pay the owner.

With a bored sigh, the strange woman turned on her heel and wandered over into the food court, her black eyes scanning for a table. To the great irritation of the Soul Reapers, the dark haired woman chose to sit at their booth, plopping down right next to Senna. From this distance, they could see that she would have been a very attractive woman were it not for arrogant sneer that twisted her features.

"Plebians," the woman sighed haughtily as she pulled an ornate paper fan out from her purse and began to fan herself with it, "So greedy and arrogant, thinking that they can rise above one of royal blood even in these days."

"Maybe it's not him," Senna answered, instantly taking a dislike to the woman, and not just because of her high and mighty attitude. As soon as the other had sat down, her gigai had sat up with a jolt upon sensing something familiar about the arrogant female's aura.

"Oh, I quite assure you, it was," the stranger said with a nasty giggle while peering out from behind her fan coyly. "Dakki Chi Lun, descendant of the royal family of China. The pleasure is yours, I'm sure."

"China, huh? Rangiku replied skeptically, her voice angry and untrusting. "So then, what brings you here to Japan?"

"Oh, this and that," Dakki answered casually as she continued fanning herself, "I've been rather bored as of late, so I decided to come here on a whim to find some amusement."

"That sounds…nice…," Isane replied, trying to be polite despite the fact that she was feeling rather intimidated by the strange woman's commanding presence. It brought to mind a nightmare that she had recently had of an evil Captain Unohana.

"Bah! Don't make me laugh! The shopping's terrible, the food's not at all to my highly refined taste, and everyone is so arrogant as to act as if they were as important as me." Dakki sighed dramatically as her companion walked up and took his place standing at her side. "Oh, and this is my faithful manservant, Francisco."

"Buenos tardes, senoritas," the short man bowed, causing confusion amongst the female shinigami.

"Buenos whatsis? What language was that?" asked Senna.

"Espanol, or, as you would say, Spanish, senorita," the manservant answered politely, "Buenos tardes is 'Good afternoon,' and a senorita is a young lady."

"What's a Chinese 'Empress,'" Rangiku asked, putting emphasis on her fourth word and using air quotes, "Doing with a Spanish butler."

"I prefer the term manservant, senorita," Francisco objected.

"Well, if you must know," Dakki answered angrily, insulted by the busty Soul Reaper's skepticism and lack of respect, "My brothers are in the military of a Spanish-speaking land, and as a result, Francisco was sent to be my manservant. A gift, you might say."

"And to be able to serve is a gift in and of itself, m'lady," the short man put in, kissing his mistress' hand, which in turn caused everyone else but Isane to roll their eyes and make rude gagging sounds.

"Hmph, ingrates! Savages!" Dakki stormed, standing up from her seat and hiding her face behind her fan. "Well, if you insist on demonstrating on what peasants you really are, then I will be taking my leave. Come, Francisco."

With that, the supposed royal turned on her heels and stalked off, her valet following shortly behind.

As the two strangers departed, Kiyone made faces at their retreating figures, while Rangiku said, "What an arrogant ****!" Isane tried to get her younger sister- who was continuing to make faces even after Dakki and Francisco had left and thus causing passerby to give them weird looks- to cease her antics. Senna, however, continued to gaze out with a puzzled look.

"Senna? What's wrong, Senna?" Isane asked once Kiyone had quit making faces. "You're looking a bit-,"

"Oh! I-It's nothing, really!" the new Soul Reaper assured, "I was just day dreaming about something. It's nothing." Yet even as she said this, she continued to stare out into the crowds, her eyes filled with worry and determination. "It's nothing…"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Half an hour later, the four were back their shopping. They had just turned a corner and- at Rangiku's insistence- made a beeline for their third shoe store when Senna stopped.

"Senn-chan? What is it?" Kiyone asked, having noticed her new friend's sudden halt.

"Huh? Oh!" the violet haired girl jumped, then laughed nervously. "Um, bathroom. I'll be right back. Hold these, please?" Without waiting for a reply, Senna shoved her shopping bags and her purse into the younger Kotetsu's arms, then dashed off to the women's restroom.

Kiyone stared after her for a moment, then shrugged and dashed back to rejoin her sister and Rangiku.

Instead of going towards the bathroom, however, Senna hid behind a fountain until she felt Rangiku and the Kotetsu sisters' spiritual pressure recede, then dashed to the nearest roof-top fire escape. As they had been walking, Senna had sensed a presence, a presence that she had felt only a short time ago. Then she had turned towards the steel door and seen a recent acquaintance watching her from out of the crowd. As soon as Senna's gaze had locked upon that fan-holding other, she had spun on her heel, marched towards the door, and disappeared. The Soul Reaper had immediately known that her hunch had been correct.

The violet haired girl ran up the dark stairs as fast as her gigai would allow, quickly becoming winded but pressing on nevertheless. At last, she reached the top and burst through the second door and onto the roof. Standing at the far end of the roof and facing away from Senna, her hair rippling in lustrous black waves in the wind, was Dakki.

"I do so loves being up high when the wind is blowing like this," the woman said seemingly to herself. "It really does give one a sense of freedom and majesty."

"What a coincidence," Senna said dryly as she slowly walked towards the other, "I get the same feeling."

"Oh? You're here too?" Dakki answered coyly, giving a startled jump and turning towards the Soul Reaper, trying to look meek.

"Give it a rest," replied Senna, "We both know that you lured me up here, and that you're targeting me specifically. So, does that me that you're picking up where your 'brother' Victor left off, Arrancar?"

"Oh, dear, how clever of you," replied Dakki, smiling behind her fan. "What gave me away?"

"You're spiritual pressure. Though it seemed like a human's, I could still pick up that weird unstable feeling that the last Arrancar that I met had. Plus, that stuff about you having 'brothers serving in the military in a Spanish-speaking land' was obviously about your fellow Arrancars in Hueco Mundo."

"My, my! What a little genius you are," the Arrancar answered sarcastically. "Though, of course, I had been hoping to lure you here to begin with."

"Why?"

"As I said before, I'm simply seeking amusement. I thought that you'd do."

Senna scoffed with disbelief.

"So then, where's your pal Francisco?" the Soul Reaper asked after a quick look around.

"Oh, he's a bit busy with another task at the moment," Dakki replied, snapping her fan closed. "It's just you and me, girl."

"I'm impressed," Senna answered sincerely as she removed a gikongan dispenser topped by a cat with a pink bow from her pocket. "And here I thought that you were the type to have someone else fight your battles." With that, she popped the Soul Candy into her mouth and burst out of her gigai.

"Go and let the others know where I'm at," she said as she drew her sword, "But tell them not to get involved unless it's clear that I can't beat her, understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," the artificial soul in Senna's fake body drawled in a strong southern accent. "Meow!"

With that, the gigai leapt towards the door, but was almost instantly cut down by a blade of wind. Blood splattered all over the roof as the upper and lower halves of Senna's doppelganger sprawled across the ground like some grotesque marionette cut from its strings.

"N-Nekoa!!"

"Now, now, there won't be any need for that," Dakki assured with an evil, screechy laugh. "Your friends are going to have their own fun soon enough, and won't be able to help you anyways."

"Witch!" Senna shouted as she turned back to face the Arrancar, but froze in horror when she saw what happened next.

Tossing aside her paper fan, Dakki lifted up her skirt to reveal a pair of foot long metal fans attached by a garter belt to her leg. Taking a fan in each hand, the Arrancar turned the one in her left hand upside down and, without hesitation, thrust it up through the bottom of her jaw until only an inch or so of the fan could still be seen. Once again, blood spilled out in rivers, and Dakki's human shell crumpled lifeless to the ground. Standing where she had been was her true form: A tall woman wearing the white uniform of the Arrancar Army custom tailored into the form of the robe of a Chinese empress. Her hair was still black and in the same elaborate style as before, but this time her entire face was hidden by a white, serene-faced mask that was clearly not her former Hollow mask. Instead, the remainder of her life as a Hollow was perched atop her head, broken apart into the form of a crown or royal tiara. Spread out in each hand was a metal fan, one of which was drenched in blood.

"W-w-was that body… A real human?" Senna all but screamed, horrified by the terrible sight that she had just witnessed.

"Yes, indeed," giggled Dakki, "And quite pretty; almost pretty enough to have been worthy of the honor of being my corporeal vessel, in fact. Well, I guess Was would be the more appropriate term, since I removed and ate her soul before inhabiting her. She tasted just as well as she looked, you know-,"

"MONSTER! Bring them to the Twilight!: Mirokumaru!!"

Senna charged.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Huh? Senna?" Rangiku asked, looking up as she looked up from the pair of shoes she had been admiring. "Is that her reiatsu? Is she fighting someone? Kiyone! I thought that you said she was going to the bathroom!"

"Kiyoneeeeee! Rangikuuuuu!" yelped Isane, drawing the other's names out as she spoke slowly with fear.

The other two lieutenants ran to the window that the tall, silver haired girl had been looking out at, then yelped with surprise and fear as well. In the skies above the city, space itself was being torn asunder all over, accompanied by the massive spiritual pressure of thousands of tormented souls conglomerated into only a few dozen. Most were skyscraper tall and wore identical black robes and masks, while some others were much smaller and far more varied in appearance except that each was missing a limb of some kind.

"Menos Grande!" gasped Rangiku, but just then many more, much weaker reitasus popped into existence all throughout the mall.

"Isane! Kiyone!" the lieutenant yelled, as she threw down her shopping and drew out her Soul Candy dispenser. The others nodded, already doing the same. "Let's go!"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Blast, Mirokumaru!" Senna shouted from atop her cyclone pedestal, unleashing another tornado down upon Dakki from her staff's ringed end. However, the Arrancar was easily able to disperse the attack with a single wave of one fan.

"So, you are a wind user as well?" Dakki asked with a girlish laugh, "How lovely, I am too! However, I'm afraid that you'll find that my wind is a bit more potent than yours!" Now cackling madly, the female Arrancar swung both of her fans, firing an explosive gust that sent Senna flying several dozen feet into the air. Then she used Sonido to catch up with the Soul Reaper.

"Thrust, Mirokumaru!" the violet haired Soul Re_aper commanded as Dakki raised one of her_ fan_s_ like a sword. Immediately, the spear end of her staff telescoped out with tremendous force, catching the Arrancar in the stomach and pushing her out for many yards until Dakki was able to blast the spear away with another blast of wind.

"How DARE YOU!" the enraged former empress bellowed, holding her bleeding belly with one hand. "You'll pay for that one, you little SLUT!"

Two blades of wind careened at Senna, but the Soul Reaper broke apart each one with two strikes of her staff. As the last one shattered, though, a raging bloodlust radiated from just above her. Not waiting to look up first, Senna raised her staff over her head, just in time to intercept a storm of violent slashes. Senna was able to parry each of Dakki's wild fan strikes, but the evil queen kept forcing her downwards through the air. Then suddenly, the Arrancar folded her weapons and locked them against Senna's, then followed through with a savage double kick to the face. Senna plummeted towards the roof, cracking the concrete with a mighty crash.

As she pulled herself out of the rubble, she couldn't help but give out a small gasp upon seeing the hoard of Menos Grande that were now locked in battle with the female captains and most of the lieutenants.

"Impressive, no?" Dakki's voice asked from behind, causing Senna to start. "Sadly, they are all just Gillians; either those who have yet to evolve into the higher forms, or Adjuchas or Vasto Lorde who have been forced to become Gillians again after having a part of themselves eaten by stronger Menos. But still, it is certainly an impressive demonstration of how even now- two centuries after his death- the name Aizen still commands great respect in Hueco Mundo."

"So what are you going to do with all of these Menos?" asked Senna, painfully pulling herself back into a fighting stance.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Dakki laughed, her tone mocking.

"Well, yeah, but I could probably do without knowing. Blast, Mirokumaru!"

With a surprised yelp, the Arrancar was smashed through most of the mall's rooftop heating and cooling units, the swirling, maple leaf-filled cyclone continuing to pound against her prone form.

"Howdya like me now, old hag?" called Senna over the roaring winds.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rangiku cut down a vulture-shaped Hollow, then flash stepped and slashed in half another that resembled a dung beetle.

The red haired lieutenant, along with Orihime, Isane, and Kiyone, was one of the four lieutenants that had been ordered by the Captains to remain behind to give support to the weaker ladies in destroying the regular Hollows that had appeared all throughout the mall, while Captains, Soifon, Unohana, Rukia, and the rest of the lieutenants went out to fight the Menos.

Most, if not all, of the humans had already fled the mall; for though most could not see either the Soul Reapers or the Hollows, the highly visible explosions of the battling spirits and the bloody explosions caused by people being eaten alive by the ravenous ghosts had been more than enough to convince anyone who valued their life that that not a good place to be. With the gikongan secretly running escort, the living had escaped.

As she cut down another one, a tall Hollow that looked like a combination of man, gorilla, and shadow wearing a mask similar to that of a Gillian's attacked from behind. Rangiku turned to dispatch and froze, but only for a moment. As she watched the fallen soul's body fade away, a thought passed through her mind. _'I thought I already killed that guy.'_

Before she could contemplate on it further, though, another wave of Hollows appeared out of the void and rushed her from all sides.

"Roar, Haineko!" the lieutenant, watching as her blade dissolved into ash. The cloud of dust surrounded her for a moment before spreading out in all directions, shredding the Hollows effortlessly.

Just then, a stranger, far stronger reiatsu came down from above. Rangiku jumped out of the way, just as a large halberd came plowing down into the tile.

"Mala suerte, I missed!" the attacking Hollow grumbled in a somewhat familiar voice.

The Hollow was shaped like a man, but stooped over from a large metal plate that covered his back like a beetle's shell. The rest of his body was covered in plate armor, except for his exposed head. His skin was Hispanic, his eyes were dark grey, and his handlebar mustache was slicked back and black. The remnants of his Hollow mask resembled the helmet of a Spanish conquistador from the 1500s, and his Hollow hole was over his left breast. In his hands was a wide bladed halberd, and the number 04 was etched into the right side of his breast plate.

"Tay Say Cuatro," the Arrancar introduced himself in a thick Spanish accent, "Francisco De Juan."

"I remember you! You're the butler for that arrogant pinhead Dakki," Rangiku declared. "So you two are Arrancar, huh?"

"Do not insult my mistress in my presence, senorita!" the Hollow growled, raising his pole axe threateningly. "Or I shall be forced to discipline you!"

"Just try!" Rangiku shouted, conjuring the ash particles of her blade to take the shape of a swirling twister all around Francisco's body. This was answered by a mighty cero, dispersing Rangiku's attack and forcing the lieutenant to dive out of the way so that the crimson beam would take out the wall instead of her.

"A brave but foolish effort, senorita," the Arrancar chuckled as he began to walk towards her. "Between my iron flesh and steel armor, it will take much more than blades of ash to damage me."

"Well what about this?" a gruff female voice called out from behind, "Sprout: Go-Ruden Yuukaku [Golden Orchid]!"

Suddenly, a field of unbloomed, gold colored orchid began to sprout along the floor, right up to Francisco himself. The Arrancar jumped to avoid the flowers, but still found himself with several of the growing buds growing out of his leg.

"What is the meaning of this, senorita?" Francisco demanded angrily of the young woman who now approached.

She was tall and thin, and her face gaunt, like that of an old warrior, though she couldn't have been much older than one hundred seventy-five. Her hair was black and in a long braid that went down to her rear, and her eyes were like black pits. Scars criss-crossed her face and hands, and one that particularly stood out was an s-shaped cut across her right eye. Her zanpakuto was a katana with a hilt that was black and about 1/3 longer than usual. The guard was gold and circular, and decorated with orchid patterns. The naked blade shone with a dull, golden aura.

"Taka Shivoran," the girl announced sullenly, "Fourth seat of Squad Five. Now Bloom: Go-Ruden Yuukaku!"

Upon that command, her sword's aura grew brighter, the budding flowers opened up their petals, and as the orchids bloomed they exploded.

The Spaniard was thrown back several yards, both by the blast of the field that he had stood next to, and by the force of his detonating leg. He howled in pain, but still managed to pull himself back to his feet and lower his weapon in preparation. His left leg was still there, but badly burned. Blackened, flash-dried blood covered the torn steel plates, and even a hint of bone could be seen amidst the charred flesh.

"Are you alright, Lieutenant?" Taka asked as she helped Rangiku- who had also been thrown back by the blast- to her feet.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Matsumoto replied as her Haineko reformed back in her hand.

"You niñas will pay dearly for that, I'm afraid!" Francisco challenged. Even as he said this, a red light began to flash from a steel bracelet on his right arm and give off a high-pitched beeping sound.

"Ah, it's time."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hag? Did you just call me an old hag?" Dakki growled in a low voice as she pulled herself out of the wreckage, having just blown apart Senna's cyclone. She was battered and bruised, but her torn robe was in far worse shape than Dakki herself. A circular hole in the robe just between her bust and her navel- where Senna's attack had struck her- revealed her Hollow hole, while another large tear at her shoulder revealed a black 03 tattooed there.

"I just call 'em like I see' em," the Soul Reaper answered with a cocky grin.

"Why you… HOW DARE YOU!! You will die for insulting my beauty, you filthy wench!!" Now insane with rage, Dakki charged forward, swinging her fans about wildly and letting loose dozens of wind blades.

Senna did her best to parry them, but there was just too many. Soon, a number of deep cuts had been gouged into her sides, arms, legs, and face. Raising her staff a final time, she was able to block a physical slash from one of her enemy's fans, only to be struck hard across the skull with the second, now-folded one.

Cackling madly, Dakki tucked her folded fan into her obi sash, grabbed Senna by the hair, and lifted the Soul Reaper up easily until she was at eye level. Then the opened fan was held up to the violet haired girl's throat and pressed against it until blood poured out.

"And now you die, little ****," the empress chuckled as she pulled back her fan to deliver a grand, sweeping cut. "And after this, maybe Victor will start listening to me a bit more, eh?"

Without warning, Senna, who had still been clutching her shakujo, swung the staff down overhand. The golden rings chimed loudly as they struck the Arrancar's face, causing the enemy to drop Senna and cry out in pain. A shard of cracked porcelain, painted to show the profile of a calm-faced, beautiful lady, fell to the ground with a light tinkle.

"Gaaaaagh!" Dakki screamed as she held her hand to her face, "B***, b***, B***!!!! DIE NOW!!" Just as she raised her fan to strike, a steel bracelet on her wrist began to flash a red light and make a high-pitched beeping. The empress hesitated for a moment and let her fan fall a foot, but then made up her mind and raised it to strike again. But just as both Dakki and Senna- who had fallen back to prepare a counterattack-, prepared to strike, a garganta opened up behind the Arrancar woman and Francisco stepped out of the void.

"Mistress, it is time to go," the mustachioed Arrancar bowed.

"Just a moment, I have to kill this one first."

"But My Lady," Francisco insisted, pointing out towards where the Menos had been a moment earlier. Those that had survived the fighting up till then had already begun to fade back to Hueco Mundo. Meanwhile, some of the Captains and Lieutenants had already begun to return to the mall, some of which were headed straight for the combatants on the roof. "If we don't leave immediately…"

Dakki hesitated a moment longer, then gave an upset sigh and relented.

"Fine, but only because we can't let those commoners get more than me."

"Of course, ma'am."

"Well, you lucked out, girlie," Dakki mocked, "You were entertaining, but I doubt that you'll be so challenging next time. Farewell."

And with that, the two Arrancar disappeared into the rift and disappeared.

Senna stood leaning upon her zanpakuto, breathing heavily. Then she heard her name being called, and turned to see Captain Rukia land lightly upon the rooftop.

"Are you alright? What happened?"

Senna just stared out to where the mutant Hollows had disappeared, silently swearing to become stronger.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Senna! Are you alright?" Kiyone asked upon seeing her friend being escorted down from the roof by the captain of Squad 13. "What happened?"

"Dakki," the amber eyed girl answered simply. Then, after taking a moment to take in the carnage she asked, "What happened with YOU guys? Were there Arrancars down here too?"

"Just one," answered Taka, resting her blade on her shoulder. "The rest were just run of the mill Hollows, plus all the Menos outside."

"Yeah, but none of them stood a chance against us, right?" grinned Rangiku, "We kick ass!"

"I don't know about that," Rukia responded, mostly to herself. "I mean, this whole battle. What was the point?"

"Maybe they were testing out a new kind of artificial Hollow?" Kiyone suggested. "I killed like five Hollows that I killed that all looked exactly alike, but they were really weak."

"Really? Me too!" answered Rangiku, "Were they big, look kinda like a gorilla, all black, and wear masks that looked a bit like a Gillian's but without the big pointy nose?"

"Yeah!"

"I killed at least nine of those, maybe more," Taka answered dryly.

"Rukia, I found something!" Tatsuki announced, leaping in through a shattered window.

"What is it?"

The dark haired lieutenant hesitated for a moment, and then shook her head. "You better come see for yourself. It's…it's really bad." With that, she leaped back out through the window. Curious and somewhat frightened, Rukia, Senna, and the others followed her.

Tatsuki led them down and around to the mall's front entrance, which taken up primarily by a huge parking garage complex. When they arrived, all were aghast with horror. Even Taka, who had spent several years in Squad 11, felt sickened to her stomach. For scattered all over the parking garage in various states of dismemberment were the corpses of nearly all of the humans who had been within the mall that day. The floor was slick with blood, and the walls and cars were covered in things that should not be outside of the human body. All were dead, even the gigais of the Soul Reapers. But worst of all, none of the souls of the dead could be found anywhere. They were all gone.

"Th-th-this…can't be…," was all Rukia could say, all that any of them could say.

Senna just squatted down and threw up.

**To Be Continued…**

**Preview:  
Kiyone: **Ah, man! That was a horrible thing that happened!  
**Sentaro:** Well it's your own fault for being so weak! If I was there, it would have been one, two, and all those Hollow would have fallen over dead!  
**Kiyone:** Oh, yeah right! Not even the best Captain could kill a thousand Hollows in a blink! Are you saying that you're better than the Captains?  
**Sentaro: **Well, no, but… Hey, are you saying that Captain Ukitake isn't that amazing? Is that what you're sayin', squirt?  
**Kiyone: **Wh-what!? Oh, no, no, no! Not at all! Captain Ukitake is the most amazing captain in the history of forever! And **I'M** his most loyal subordinate!  
**Sentaro: **Oh yeah, you wish!  
**Kiyone: **Am so!  
**Sentaro: **Are not!  
**Kiyone: **Am so!  
**Sentaro: **Are not!  
**Ichigo: **We're outta time!

**Omake**

"Run! It's coming!" the first mall cop yelled.

"How can we stop it!?" the second one shouted.

"I thought I hired you people to protect to keep order in my mall, not to let it be over-run by monsters! What kind of security do you call this!?" the mall's owner bellowed.

"Less yelling, more running, sir!" a third officer yelped.

The four ran as fast as they could, but no matter what their speed, they could not escape the small, pink beast which had locked onto their scents.

"There! Quick! The elevator! Hurry!"

The four continued to run, the sight of their possible salvation giving them extra strength to go on. They were not but twenty feet away when one of the mall cops suddenly tripped and fell.

"No! Paul!"

"Leave him, it's too late!"

Like a ravenous lion on a wounded antelope, the monster zeroed in directly upon it's fallen prey and leapt.

"No! Stay back! NOOOOOOOOO!"

_SMACK! BANG! SWIPE! RIFLE! FILCH! SNAG! ZI-ING!!_

"Whoah, I thought that that was gonna be the end of me!" the alleviated security officer named Paul breathed with relief. Then, noticing that something was wrong, he reached into all of the pockets in both his pants, shirt, and belt.

"HEY! THAT ROTTEN LITTLE KID STOLE ALL OF MY CANDY!!"

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Yachiru Kusajishi skipped along merrily down the wide hallways of the crowded mall, her mouth stuffed with freshly pilfered candy, and even stuffed securely into a teddy bear back pack.


	7. Chapter 7: Unholy Alliance

**Author's Note: **Yay! Finally finished the rewrite! Yay! And even better, I'm half through with the next chapter! Yay again. When I'm done it'll be posted a week from now, unless I'm prompted to post sooner by your show of support (that is, your reviews). Please enjoy, and so sorry for the LONG wait.

**Disclaimer: **Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo, not me.

Kon- That's it?

Me- That's it *walks off*

Kon- W-w-e-he-what? What was that? Did he just run off without doing something crazy here!? What's going on here!?!

**Chapter 7:  
Unholy Alliance**

With a low, ominous rumble, the Senkaimon gate slid open within the midst of the road. None of the humans in that city could see the paper and wood framed gate, nor were they any more aware of the twelve black clad swordsmen and women who stepped through the white void within it. A dozen ebony hell butterflies retreated back through the portal once their soul reapers had made it, and the gate slid closed once more with a low wooden tap before fading back to into oblivion. Now the only light with which the soldiers could see by was that of the pale, ill maintained street lamps, the occasional light from one of the towering apartments above, and the low hung waxing moon.

"Are we all ready?" one of the unit commanders called in his gruff baritone.

His subordinates nodded.

"Alright, then let's move out troops!" the second commander ordered.

With a whoosh, the dozen warriors of the Soul Society launched themselves into the night.

They followed the road straight south, their formation loose but orderly. At the head of the column were the expedition's leaders: one a burly young man with black hair and a goatee, and wearing a white headband and shoulder straps that looked like they were made from coiled rope; the other a short young woman with strawberry blond hair and wearing white gloves and a down turned collar.

Right behind the leaders was a young woman with dark red hair who wore horn rimmed glasses and a heavily modified shihakusho consisting of a pleated shortskirt and a sleeveless, low cut top; and beside her was a lightly built brunette man who wore his katana-shaped zanpakuto on his back and his kimono opened up to show off his chest.

Behind this pair was a girl with violet hair and amber, mischievous eyes, wearing a red ribbon in her hair and a larger one around her waist; a young man with medium length red hair with a pair of katana-style zanpakuto on his left hip; another young man with longish black hair, a nodachi, and the entire right side of his kimono cut away to reveal the white kosode beneath; and a black haired woman with a long braid, a heavily scarred face and a katana with an extra long hilt.

Bringing up the rear of the band were four others. Two were young women, one with short black hair, short cut kimono and hakama sleeves, and wearing a red bandana; the other with sandy blond hair with a strawberry-shaped hair pin and carrying a Squad 4 medical bag over her shoulder. Flanking and a bit behind them was a man with shaggy black hair and a sleeveless kimono with a white hood; and a woman with mid-back length dark green hair and a shihakusho with shoulder length sleeves.

On and on they went, flash stepping through the night. None spoke, and many of their faces were set with a grim determination. Their destination: The newly discovered lair of the rogue Arrancar.

* * *

A few short hours before, the twelve had stood in the grand meeting hall of the captains at the feet of the Head Captain himself. Joshiro Ukitake had looked both worried and ill, and the ones who had stood with him- the captains from whose squads the twelve had been selected- had seemed similarly uneasy, with the obvious exception of Kenpachi Zaraki.

"A short while ago," the tuberculosis-stricken leader of the Gotei 13 had announced, "A group from the Patrol Corp. of the Onmitsukido intercepted a message within the World of the Living mentioning a 'gathering of allies.' We have reason to believe that this message was both for and from the arrancars that have been attacking us lately. Though normally this would be a job for the Stealth Force, Captain Soifon and I both agree that, considering how little we know of these arrancar, it would be best to send a more combat-oriented reconnaissance team instead. We also did not believe that too many lieutenants would be required for this, and that it would be more convenient for us to have many fighters who can use their full power right away rather than wait for gentai kaijo authorization."

The white haired captain beamed as he continued, "You have all been handpicked for this mission, based upon your combat experience, previous encounters with these arrancars, and…wait, where's Madarame, Ayasegawa, and Ms. Asano?"

"Third seat Madarame and fifth seat Ayasegawa are currently being treated for injuries," Captain Unohana announced from behind her old friend.

"What'd you do to my boys this time?" demanded the wild Kenpachi.

"Why, whatever do you mean?" Unohana replied with one of those serene smiles that were so well known for inspiring horrendous fear.

"N-nothing," Zaraki growled with only the slightest hesitation, though he still averted his one uncovered eye and pondered at the strange feeling which had just passed through him.

"And my sister refused to go while Ikkaku was in the hospital, so…so she made me go instead," the brunette soul reaper whined.

"The other two are pretty good though," Zaraki continued, "Much better than their rank, though the one needs to learn to man up more often."

The shaggy haired soul reaper scoffed.

"Well, if everything's settled then," Joshiro announced, "Ready yourselves. The senkaimon will be opened in front of the Squad One barracks in one hour's time. I will give you my final orders then. Oh, and I'm sure you've all already guessed, but my two lieutenants have…volunteered…to lead this mission,"

The two in question beamed happily at their captain, who returned their smiles with a pained grin. His decision, after all, had come more from his near-infinite patience being on its last legs (due to their perpetual bickering) rather than being the most qualified. Not that Sentaro and Kiyone weren't qualified for their position, but Ukitake had originally been expecting to put a more combat-suited lieutenant in charge, such as Squad Two's Tatsuki Arisawa, or Thirteen's Hinamori. However, Sentaro and Kiyone had spent so much time trying to tell him how suited they were for leading the mission and then yelling at the other one for making stuff up or exaggerating that Ukitake had finally broken down and put both of them in charge. He sincerely hoped that they wouldn't do anything too ridiculous while leading this group, or too dangerous.

With a dreading sigh, the middle-aged captain concluded, "Until then, you are dismissed."

* * *

It was a full half hour before the group finally came to a halt as one of the leaders held up a meaty fist.

"Alright, this is the place," Sentaro Kotsubaki declared, pointing at a large man hole cover set in the midst of the road.

"The Captain says that the enemy is several kilometers to the east from here," Sentaro's partner, the extra petite Kiyone Kotetsu, began to explain, "From here on, we're going to have to be extra cautious and-,"

"Hey, hey! Wait a sec, short-stuff!" Sentaro exclaimed, "I'm the boss of this here outfit, so I'm the one who should be giving the explanations!"

"As if!" Kiyone retorted with equal heat, "I'm the leader here, you big dumb gorilla!"

"Who're you calling a gorilla, midget!? And _I'm_ the leader because Captain Ukitake put _me_ in charge!"

"In your dreams, ape! He was specifically looking at _me_ when he said 'I'm putting you two in charge of this expedition.' That means that he meant that _I'm_ the leader!"

"You wish!" By now, Kiyone and Sentaro were leaned in so close together that their noses were squished against each other, "The Captain was looking at _me_ when he said that!"

"Both of you, shut up and let's go," the girl with the red bandana called out, pushing the two lieutenants out of her way in order to get at the manhole. After a few moments of strained lifting, the heavy iron plate was lifted from its place to reveal the black, slimy depths beneath.

"Let's go, Yuzu," the girl said just before jumping in, followed closely by the sandy haired girl from Squad Four. The next ones down were the red head and the ribbon girl, Yamato and Senna, followed closely by the long haired Akira and the scarred warrior woman Taka.

"I-I don't wanna go down there," Keigo Asano whined, covering his nose with both hands. "It smells weird, and it looks creepy…,"

"Quit yer bawlin' Asano, and let's go!" the green haired Yoshi barked, kicking Asano in the seat and nearly sending him head first down the manhole.

"You're so brave, Yoshi-chan!" the bespectacled girl cooed, trying to snake her arms around the other woman's middle and cop a feel.

"Get offa me, you freak!" the Squad Eleven woman roared, grabbing the molester by her dark red locks and bodily throwing her into Keigo, sending both tumbling down into the sewers with a smelly splash. Muttering angrily to herself, Yoshi at last jumped, followed closely by her brother, the shaggy haired Maki.

"Uh, I kinda think we got left behind, Kiyone," Sentaro lamented a few moments later as he and his partner stood alone at the sewer's lip. Crows could be heard kawing somewhere in the distance.

"Yeah…," was Kiyone's reply, allowing her voice to trail off into silence. Then with a moment's sudden inspiration, she declared, "Me first! Last one is a Hollow's fart!"

"H-hey!" Sentaro bellowed after her, "No fair! I wasn't ready!"

After a moment's more bickering between the leaders, the group continued on through the sewers in silence. The stink of mold and waste stung their nostrils, and the ever-present pattering and squeakings of rats left a few of the women and one of the men (Keigo) continually on-edge. Red balls of kido light held by Kiyone and the girl Yuzu illuminated their path, though the scarlet glow served much to further the group's uneasiness.

For over an hour and a half the group marched on, until at last they turned a corner and found themselves facing a wide corridor from which voices could be heard drifting down. At a motion from Sentaro, Yuzu and Kiyone extinguished their kido lights and the entire group backed themselves up against the walls. Ever so slowly, they began to inch along the sides until they reached had the mouth of the chamber, just beyond the glow of the flickering torches that were held in brackets along the chamber walls.

Seven figures stood in the room beyond; four with their backs to the Soul Reapers, and three standing opposite to these. The four all wore white uniforms, similar to each other, yet significantly unique to the individual. One of the four was tall and thin and stood with authority in his presence, his uniform seeming the least modified and ending with a single long coat tail. Another was quite muscular and stood just above the average height of a man, but even from the back it was clear that his appearance was scruffy. A third stood stooped over and wore what appeared to be a metal shell over his back while carrying a halberd, and the fourth's uniform looked like a lab coat and he wore an odd, egg-like device over the entirety of his right arm.

The three, by all appearances, seemed entirely human; though each one possessed a chilling reiatsu that made it clear that they were anything but. The central being was a tall, muscular man with cold eyes, up-swept white hair, bore a scar on the left side of his chin, and wore a two-toned red and black shirt with a thin black tie, tan slacks, and a long brown trench coat. The other two were dark haired men, one brunette with a large goatee who wore formal clothing and a gold pocket watch; and the other with slicked back, black greasy hair, round glasses, and an ever-present sinister grin plastered upon his pale lips.

"Explain this to me one more time," the white haired man with the scar said casually, his voice bearing a light British accent with the barest hint of German, "You were given the duty of destroying the Soul Society by your creator, and yet you had to seek me out in order to complete your task? This certainly conflicts with the rumors that I've heard about this Sosuke Aizen. Didn't he plan for everything?"

"Unfortunately, things change," the tall, thin arrancar admitted, "And not even Lord Aizen was omniscient."

"I see," the white haired man nodded. "And, speaking as one who's been around long enough to see such things, I must agree. Two hundred years ago and onwards until the time of my birth, the strongest of the grunt Soul Reapers could barely handle Hollows with any sort of special ability. Nowadays, Soul Reapers strong enough to handle incomplete arrancars are quite common. True, such enemies are of no threat to you or I, but it certainly leaves one worrying what the standard for a captain, or even a lieutenant, is now."

"That's exactly our issue, and it makes it all the more imperative for us to join forces, Karia," the arrancar with the egg, recognized by Yamato and Akira as Victor Benito, pressed. "To bring down even the weakest captain is currently beyond the ability of all of us Time Capsule Arrancar working together. If we are to be able to defeat them all once our period of development ends, we will need allies; and don't believe for even a moment that the Soul Society won't find and exterminate you at some point. Where's the logic in waiting until you're vainly fighting for your existence when you can perform a preemptive strike and never have to worry about them again?"

"How would the Soul Society find us?" the white haired one laughed good-naturedly. "You make it sound as if they're actively looking for us, but- logically- why would anyone bother looking for something that's supposed to be extinct?"

"And if- so you claim- you can't even all take down the weakest captain now, what sense is there that you'll be able to defeat them all when this 'period of development' is complete; with or without our help?" the man with the glasses demanded in a calm, weasely voice that also carried a touch of a German accent, "Surely you don't expect to become that strong in so short a time?"

At the end of his speech he made a slight, nearly imperceptible head motion towards a point beyond the arrancars. His leader nodded in understanding before continuing his speech.

"Too true, Ugaki. Too true. Why should we risk destroying ourselves for such a ridiculous plan?"

"So yer sayin' that yer too scared to help, is that it?" the scruffy, muscular arrancar sneered, his blade-like crimson and ebony dreadlocks bobbing as he spoke.

"I never said that," the man called Kariya replied, his red-orange eyes narrowing and his voice growing cold.

"Come now," the tall, thin arrancar interrupted, breaking up the fight before it had a chance to begin, "Surely there is something that we can do? You mentioned earlier about gaining control over the rest of the Bounts? Perhaps we can help each other?"

"Yes, that is something that you may be helpful in doing," conceded Kariya. "But, perhaps you'd prefer to allow the Soul Society to discover our existence instead, thus forcing us to ally ourselves with you in order to escape the inevitable purge?"

"And what would make you say a thing like that?" the lead arrancar asked in a fake-wounded voice.

Seemingly without warning, the white haired one took a single step forward while bringing his arm about in an upward sweeping, diagonal knife hand. Instantly, a blade of wind flew out in response to the man's movement, straight at the arrancars. The half-Hollows easily jumped to the side, allowing the deadly storm to continue on its path into the passage behind them, and straight at the still-hiding Soul Reapers.

The time for stealth past, Senna stood up and stepped into the path of the attack even as the other Soul Reapers prepared to leap out of the way at the last second.

"Bring them to the twilight!" she commanded, drawing her sword, "Mirokumaru!"

The wind blade dissolved with an explosive _pop_ the instant it came into contact with the ringed staff.

"Oh, just a hunch," Kariya answered smugly. Turning towards Senna, he began to applaud. "Bravo, bravo my dear. What an impressive display over the powers of wind. I've never had my attacks so easily repelled before, even by other wind users. I'm most impressed."

"Save your praise," was Senna's reply as the soul reaper team moved forward to stand at her side while drawing their zanpakuto. Meanwhile, the arrancars turned to face their foes and also drew their weapons. "I'm just here to get some answers out of these arrancar."

"Oh, well by all means, ask away," Kariya shrugged. "My men and I were just on our way out anyway."

As the three human-like beings turned to leave, the bandana wearing female soul reaper stepped up and called out, "Not so fast, fellas! By the authority of the Gotei 13, we're placing you all under arrest! Give up quietly, or we'll use force!"

"Wow, Karin!" Yuzu clapped quietly, "That was really good! You sounded just like a cop!"

"H-hey!" whined Kiyone, "That's my job!"

"Mine," Sentaro corrected.

"No, mi-,"

"I started first," Karin swiftly broke up the inevitable argument, "And anyway, I'm the younger sister of a captain, I can boss people around as much as I want."

"I'm not sure that's quite how it works," said Keigo, though he was ignored.

"Well, whoever makes the statement, it will promptly be ignored," said Kariya with a laugh, "Isn't that right, Don?"

"That is correct," the tall, thin arrancar replied. Now that he was facing the soul reapers, they could see that he was quite gentlemanly in appearance, his black hair gracefully slicked back and his facial features refined. A number seven was tattooed onto the back of his right hand, and the remnants of his hollow mask surrounded his eyes and nose like the mask of a bandit, though with sharp teeth lining the bottom edge. A pair of white and grey hilted katanas were thrust through the front of his black obi sash, their ends connected by a short length of chain.

"If you and your men would be so kind as to depart, Mr. Kariya," the gentlemanly arrancar offered, "My associates and I will remove these soul reapers from your trail."

"That would be greatly appreciated," grinned Karia as he turned to walk away, "Utagawa, Ugaki, this way, if you please."

"I don't think so," shouted Yamato with his usual recklessness, leaping over the heads of the arrancars in a single bound as he drew his twin swords. "Shine strong and blaze bright: Hikari-Ho no Ryu!"

As the flaming light blades approached the retreating Kariya's head, Yamato was forced to come to a sudden mid-air stop as he found himself locking blades with the scruffy-looking arrancar with the red and black dreadlocks.

Up close, the creature seemed more savage than scruffy, and only his clothes seemed disheveled. Black eyes blazed hungrily from their deep sockets, the pupils slit and sinister. His mouth was always in a feral sneer, and several of his teeth had been filed into sharp points. His tattered coat was open to reveal his lean but powerful muscles, scarred torso, and the hollow hole located in his sternum. The remnants of his hollow mask existed as a pair of still-tooth filled lower jawbones and a portion of the upper left jawbone that served to increase his frightening, predatory appearance; a portion of the right jawbone extended up past the corner and along his face to finally end a bit beyond his ear, making it seem pointy. His zanpakuto had a blood red and icy blue katana hilt with a curved h-shaped guard and the blade of a large scimitar.

"You look pretty tough, kid," the arrancar growled wickedly, "What say you and me have a little fun, eh?"

* * *

By now Kariya's group had almost disappeared down the hall on the far side of the chamber, and with a shout Sentaro and Kiyone gave chase. Unsurprisingly, the remaining arrancars attempted to intercept them, but each one was stopped by the other members of the war party.

First, Benito attempted to crush the passing Kiyone with the spiked, egg-shaped device on his right arm, but was instantly forced to use it to block the blades of Yoshi and Maki Ichinose.

"You're the one that Yamato and Akira were having so much trouble with," the warrioress said with a rabid grin, "Let's see how well you do against one of Squad Eleven's finest. Shield me with your hand, and cut them all down!: Shi no Joou!"

* * *

Next, the halberd-wielding Francisco had just begun to prepare a cero when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a patch of gold petaled flowers sprouting rapidly towards him. With a small gasp of remembrance, he adjusted the aim of his crimson energy blast in time to detonate the exploding flowers prematurely.

"Not bad," the scarred Taka grinned as she approached her former opponent, her zanpakuto Go-Ruden Yuukaku gripped easily in one hand. The girls Karin and Yuzu stood on either side of her. "You're a fast study." An anxious grin crossed the warrioress' face as she added, "Good. This means that our last battle together will be plenty fun."

"We shall see about that, senorita," was the armored hollow's reply, "We shall see."

* * *

The gentlemanly hollow chose to wait until just before the two lieutenants had disappeared down the corridor before striking. Slowly and with practiced elegance, the arrancar drew his two swords, holding one by the hilt and the other by the chain just below. With a sharp tug, the chain extended several feet- far more than what could have been concealed within the hilt- and began to rapidly swing one of the bladess like a flail. He was just about to hurl it when a loud voice called out from behind.

"Snap and cry: Gudon Awadateki [Madness Whip]!"

A pale bronze colored whip with many steel gray studs along its length wrapped itself around the arrancar's arm, stopping his attack. Turning with a somewhat bored energy, he saw the bespectacled female on the other end of the weapon, a confident smile on her lips. Meanwhile, Keigo was cowering at her feet.

"Sorry, sir, but I'm afraid that you're not going to be hurting any of my comrades today. Especially the females."

"I see. And you would be?"

"Chizuru Honsho, third seat of Squad Thirteen. I admit disappointment that that female in your group isn't here, but I guess you'll do for now." A smile which terrified Keigo even more crossed the girl's face as she said, "You've been very bad, Mr. Arrancar. Now you'll have to be punished severely; and I do so love to inflict punishment!"

"Someone get me outta this freak show!" screamed Keigo.

**-**

**To Be Continued…**

**-**

**Preview**

Yamato- Whoo! I finally get to fight again next chapter!  
Taka- Too bad you'll be having to share chapter space with the rest of us.  
Yamato- Nooo!  
Jin Kariya- At long last! Now the glory of the Bounts shall be revealed without dumb fillers that make up plot with each episode!  
Senna- Did you say "The Bounce?" So, what, you're going to jump on us until we surrender?  
Kariya- No! Bount! With a Tt! No "Sss!" Get it right!  
Yamato- I'm confused…

**-**

**Omake**

"Darling!!" Mizuho Asano Madarame cried (Madarame wasn't really her last name, that's just how she introduced herself to everyone, much to Ikkaku's annoyance), "I've got a present for you!"

Ikkaku groaned. "What is it now, Mizuho? I'm trying to train with Yumichika!"

"I know, but-,"

"Baldy! Feather Brow!"

"Oh, no," both the 3rd and 5th seat of Zaraki's Squad moaned with horror.

"Play with me now, Baldy!" Yachiru chirped, popping up seemingly out of nowhere as she so often did and positioning herself right at Ikkaku's feet..

"Not now, Yachirul we're busy!"

"Indeed," Yumichika agreed, "And besides, your games usually end up with one or both of us doing something or winding up in a state that is most unbeautiful."

"Yeah, what he said," Ikkaku grunted, "Only not so fruity."

"What do you want them to play with you, Lieutenant?" Mizuho asked politely, bending down in the grass so as to mimic the still-tiny child's height.

"Dress up, of course!"

"Oh, how sweet!"

"Absolutely not!" Ikkaku shouted.

"What sort of dress up are we talking ab-OW!" Yumichika began, only to be hit hard in the stomach by the blunt end of Hozukimaru. "I-I mean, no. No, I will not play dress up, no."

Yachiru's eyes narrowed dangerously as she turned towards the two, who tried vainly to stand their ground and look manly.

"Darling?"

***

"Welcome back to Squad Four Barracks Mr. Madarame, Mr. Ayasegawa," Retsu Unohana greeted sweetly as the stretcher bearers wheeled the two unconscious and copiously bleeding men to the emergency ward. To everyone's chagrin, Mizuho was latched onto Ikkaku's prone body, making maneuvering the gurney quite difficult.

"Oh!! Darliiiing!!" she bawled.

**Author's Request: **Please don't forget to review! Only reviews can motivate me to pump out new chapters without waiting for a month or so to pass by. Favorites without any sort of review will not. So if you desire another chapter besides the one next week before Easter, then please make this emotionally starved author feel motivated to please his fans by sending reviews. The emotionally starved author thanks you! =D

Kon- You are so pathetic

Me- Am not.

Kon- I'm never dictating for you again. Goodbye

Me- No! Come back!


	8. Chapter 8: War! Third and Below Vs

**Author's Note: **Amazing! Not only did I get this up in less than a month since the last one, but I did it in under a week too! Sorry that this one turned out so long, but that's because it's so jam-packed full of action! It would have been MUCH longer too, so I had to cut it in half. Next part should be up in about a week or so. As always, please read and review!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach  
Kon- That's 'cause I do!  
Me- No…. you don't  
Kon- Yes, I do! I'm the star, which means that everything in it belongs to me!  
Me- Okay, there's so many things wrong with that statement that I don't even know where to begin.  
Aizen- Does that mean that you own me then, too?  
Me and Kon- Aaaaaaaaaauuuuuuugghhhh!!!!

**Chapter 8: War! Third and Below Vs. Aizen's Contingency**

"Halt! Stop! Quit moving!" panted Sentaro Kotsubaki as he and his diminutive partner Kiyone Kotetsu gave chase to the creatures known as Bounts through the sewers of the human city.

"If you've got the energy to yell, then you've got the energy to run faster!" retorted Kiyone, "Now move!"

"Pipe down short-stu- hey! No fair speeding up! I'm the one who's supposed to catch them! Come back here!"

Faster and faster the competing lieutenants went, until at last they found themselves standing in yet another wide chamber, their quarry awaiting them patiently.

"My, you two certainly are persistent," complimented Kariya as the two lieutenants paused to catch their breath. His two henchmen, the well-dressed Utagawa and the weasely Ugaki, stood unmoving on either side of himself.

"We-we're not letting you go without a fight," Sentaro panted.

"Y-yeah, s-so just give up while you've got the- the chance."

"Oh dear, Jin," Utagawa laughed in a silken, German-tinted American East Coast accent, "I do believe that they're serious. Shall I remove them?"

"Do as you will, Ryo," shrugged Kariya, "But please don't be too rough with them. I don't want to give the Soul Society too much reason to go after us when I haven't even decided if we're going to help the arrancars or not."

"Of course," the brunette man nodded, withdrawing the gold pocket watch from his vest pocket. Slowly and methodically, he began to approach the two soul reaper lieutenants, grinning a small, amused smile and casually spinning the watch's chain around his finger.

Kiyone and Sentaro each took a cautious step back as they drew and released their zanpakuto.

"Those aren't going to help, I'm afraid," Ryo Utagawa smiled. "Zeige Dich: Fried!"

* * *

A mighty explosion shook the sewers, sending debris falling all over the combatants as a cero ripped through the ceiling. Out through this hole flew the wild haired arrancar, followed closely by Yamato, Senna, and Akira.

"Ah, much better," the arrancar cackled, "I'm a bit claustrophobic, you see, and that tiny little sewer wouldn't have been any good for a proper fight anyway. Now we can really cut loose."

He laughed wickedly for several moments, though never taking his eyes off of his opponents in case of an attack, before he at last introduced himself. "Oh, I guess that I should probably tell you my name, not that it matters. The name's Givos Steelnail, the T.C. Primera Arrancar."

"Yamato Insei, fourth seat of Squad Ten," the red haired soul reaper answered coolly.

"Senna, same as him," her face uncharacteristically series despite the intended bit of humor.

"Akira Togashi, sixth seat of Squad Nine," the Quincy descendent said, having already released his zanpakuto, Akai Hane no Suzume. "And here's a present to celebrate our new relationship: Suzume Chikuden!"

Pulling back his shikai's bowstring, Akira formed a spirit arrow more than three inches thick in the span of a second and fired. Flying close to the speed of sound, the attack hit the surprised Givos and exploded.

"'Here's a present to celebrate our new relationsip?'" Yamato question, "Seriously, Akira?"

"Well I thought it was cute," Senna replied as she moved past the two to face their enemy further up in the sky.

"You would," grunted Yamato, chasing after the girl.

"Well they can't all be prize winners," Akira muttered to himself as he followed, a bit put down. "And Taka would have thought it was funny…maybe."

* * *

"Pequeña Lluvia de Bala" Victor commanded, firing a volley of tiny bala blasts from the holes on his puppet arm's fingertips. Maki jumped to the side, while Yoshi just charged forward, the scarlet energy balls bursting harmlessly against the upraised metal fan in her left hand as she prepared to strike with the jian in her right.

At the last moment, Victor ended his attack to raise his egg-like shield to intercept the sword strike, for the moment losing track of the second one.

"Flash and burst, Nijigasumi!" A brilliant flash of light appeared from behind Victor and a moment later the arrancar jumped away while shouting in pain, a scarlet flow of blood flowing from his back where a blade of light had cut open the iron defense of his skin.

"After him, Maki," Yoshi called out as she followed the arrancar through hole in the ceiling, spinning the blade of her zanpakuto about on its chain.

"I have him, Sis," was the male Ichinose's answer as he followed. "Flash and Burst, Nijigasumi." With a shimmer of bending light, Maki disappeared.

"Damn," Victor cursed as he watched one of his opponents vanish. He drew his own zanpakuto, green with an ellipitical guard, and fired a cero from his shield at Yoshi.

The soul reaper vanished with a leap of shunpo, only to reappear a moment later swinging her blade at the arrancar's head. Victor parried, only to narrowly avoid the same thing from the now visible Maki by a quick raising of his shield.

"Negro Soñico!" the overwhelmed arrancar shouted, and a moment later both of his enemies were falling away from him. Blackish waves of distorted air emanated from the arrancar's body, overloading their senses with twisted, screeching, screaming spiritual energy. Now turning his attention upon Maki, the arrancar sped quickly down with sonido in order to put an end to the opponent with the most bothersome ability.

"Shakkaho!" yelled Maki, hurling the ball of flame fruitlessly at the arrancar.

Victor batted the kido aside lazily away with his sword, only to suddenly be jump kicked in the head by Yoshi. He flew for several feet before finally skidding to a stop upon the air.

"A clever ploy," the quinto arrancar chuckled, rubbing some of the blood off of his face from where he had been kicked. "You two work well together."

"Not really," Yoshi bragged, resting her sword on her shoulder and sneering, "I just let him get his ass handed to him, then take out the opponent while they're distracted. Not that I need to, of course, but I just find that it's easier that way."

"Oh, really?" Victor questioned, eyes narrowed, "Are you saying that you are the strongest, then?"

"Well, duh," the soul reaper laughed with an arrogant grin.

"I see," was Victor's reply, but he was no where he had been. To Yoshi's surprise and horror, the arrancar's smooth voice was now coming from behind her. "Then in that case, I'll take care of you first."

As the arrancar's blade came speeding for Yoshi's body, the hand of her brother suddenly shot up, becoming impaled by the sword even as the momentum of Maki's movement carried the strike away from its intended target. Without a word and only the slightest grimace of pain, the soul reaper swung his Nijigasumi toward the enemy.

Benito was faster, though, and Ichinose was struck hard in the face by his enemy's shield. Victor easily pulled his sword out of Maki's hand as the other was hurled out of the way, and then parried Yoshi's retaliatory strike with equal ease.

In anger, Yoshi slashed him down the chest with the hooked blades that rested atop her fan, but the arrancar didn't even feel the feeble strike as he charged up a cero at point blank range.

* * *

"You're getting better," Taka mocked her enemy even as she avoided yet another sweep of Francisco's halberd, "Much closer that time."

"Silencio!" the antagonized arrancar yelled, hurling his fist forward to unleash a bala.

The scarred girl easily danced out of the way, then scraped her blade quickly across the floor toward her opponent, causing another line of exploding orchids to start blooming toward him. In the blink of an eye, though, Taka found herself face to face with the angry arrancar. Instinctively, she blocked his halberd, only to leave herself open to a close range cero, one she had no hope of avoiding. Fear filled her heart, but she kept her face stern and unmoving.

"Hado One: Sho!" two voices shouted in unison, sending Francisco tumbling off to the side and causing his cero to take out a section of wall instead. Seizing the opportunity, the former Eleventh Squad woman escaped from the armored hollow with shunpo, unleashing a weak slash upon a sliver of skin exposed by the joints of his armor.

With a howl of furry, the mustachioed warrior turned his eyes upon the two girls who had just attacked him.

"Squad Three fourth seat: Karin Kurosaki," the black haired woman grinned, giving a casual two fingered salute off of her red bandana. "How's it goin'?"

"Yuzu Kurosaki," Karin's sandy haired sister bowed politely, "Fourth seat of Squad Four. Nice to meet you."

"Yuzu, don't," groaned Karin.

"But Karin, I was only trying to be polite."

"You chicas, just go home," Francisco growled, growing dangerously close to losing his patience entirely. "Though your amiga is skilled, me acero armor- my steel armor- will not easily be breached. She _will_ lose in the end, and you will not be able to make a difference."

"Pretty cocky, arentcha?" grumped Taka from behind the arrancar.

"I am merely telling the truth, señorita."

"Don't think we can help, huh?" growled Karin as she drew her wakizashi zanpakuto and held it in front of herself, point down. "Score a Goal: Tetsu Hasha [Iron Champion]!"

Upon command, the zanpakuto began to glow red. Karin released it, but the blade remained hovering in the air for a moment before twisting and turning itself about, finally taking the form of an iron ball about twenty-eight inches in circumference and covered in hexagonal markings.

"A ball?" scoffed Francisco, "You expect to defeat me with a ball?"

"That's right," Karin smiled with confidence, "A soccer ball!"

With a great "Hi-yaah!" the (slightly) older Kurosaki sister side kicked the metal ball as hard as she could, sending it hurtling towards the arrancar at dizzying speeds. It was all Francisco could do to dodge.

"Yo! Hit it back!" Karin called towards Taka as the ball rushed for her, "Just not with your hands, though!"

As odd as the request was, the fourth seat of Captain Abarai's squadron jumped up and hit the incoming projectile back towards Francisco, who had charged at his now unarmed attacker with pole axe raised.

"Hiss: O-Hi no Neko [Fire Tailed Cat]!"

A clawed gauntlet surrounded with orange flames formed in the hand of Karin's twin, blocking the blade of Francsico's weapon just long enough for Karin's own zanpakuto to come screaming in.

With a sly grin, the Spanish hollow used sonido to escape at the last second, allowing the ball to plow into the twins…or so he had hoped. Instead, the bizarre shikai came to a screeching halt mere inches away from Yuzu's face. Francisco couldn't help but stare for a moment, giving Karin ample time to kick the ball yet again, sending it right into the arrancar's torso and sending the winded hollow up and out of through the hole in the ceiling.

The three soul reapers followed, and once on the streets Karin began to brag.

"My Tetsu Hasha magnifies my kicks by ten, you see," she said, her weapon orbiting her head like a red-aured moon. "And can be used by either me or my allies, so long as we don't use our hands. It can't hit someone unless I want it to, and when it does, it transfers some of my spirit energy into you to cause some internal damage along with the physical damage. Your armor can't protect you from that, can it?"

"Karin…," her sister tried to caution.

"Don't stand around, kid," scolded Taka, raising her blade to guard position as she prepared her next attack. "Monologues do nothing but get you killed."

Slowly, steadily, painfully, Francisco raised himself to his feet, panting slightly and propping himself up upon his halberd.

"L-L," the arrancar panted.

"What's that?" asked Karin, "Leave you alone? Sorry, but-,"

"Dammit, kid! Get back!" shouted Taka, rushing forward with shunpo. She had felt the raise in spirit energy. The arrancar was about to reveal one of his unique powers.

"Legion!" the Spaniard yelled at last. In an instant, the heavy metal shell on his back swung open like the wing carapace of a beetle, and five white masks flew out.

They were like hollow masks, but plain and emotionless. A vaporous black tail was attached to each. Two of the masks flew towards the Kurosaki twins, while the remaining three sped towards the much closer Taka. Within a moment, the trails of black vapor had begun to solidify and spread; creating large, black gorilla bodies with hollow holes for each mask. These were the numerous, identical hollows who had been at the battle at the mall!

Remembering how weak these 'hollows' were, Taka did not slow down, simply cutting through them as they approached; but as the last one disintegrated, she found that she had been tricked. She ran straight into the blunt end of Francisco's halberd, leaving her coughing up blood and gasping for breath on all fours.

Satisfied that she was down, Francisco used sonido to jump towards the Kurosaki sisters, who had just dispatched their own hollow clones. Those his face was as calm and expressionless as the masks of his clones, the former soldier could not help but feel a tearing of his heart as his axe blade tore the flesh of this brave- albeit overconfident- warrior.

Blood splashed and rained briefly upon the concrete streets, just a moment before the elder twin of the Kurosaki's collapsed into a puddle of it.

"KARIN!!!" Yuzu screamed in absolute horror, the shock preventing her from moving until several moments after her twin had hit the ground. As soon as she could move again, she dropped to her feet and tried to shake her sister awake ever as she prepared her healing kido. Despite all of her medical training in both life and death, she could not help but scream and grow increasingly panicked as fear and despair ensnared her heart.

Blind rage clouded Taka's mind as she watched her comrade fall. Though she staggered as she regained her feet, hate-filled resolve gave her strength. Moving as fast as her ability in flash step allowed, the warrioress began to strike relentlessly at Francisco from every side. Back, flank, arms, leg, face; every strike was foiled by either a parry or the arrancar's dense shell, but she continued to hack away regardless.

At last, she made another move to strike the enemy's face, but found that he had been waiting for this moment. An expert, last second thrust of Fransico's halberd had allowed the arrancar to catch Taka's zanpakuto in the narrow space between the pole weapon's axe blade and shaft, then instantly twisted the weapon so that the enemy's blade could not be easily withdrawn.

Furious, Taka pulled on the edge of her zanpakuto's hilt, revealing the small dagger hidden within. She stabbed wildly at his arm, but the thick armor plating protected him well.

"Now, let's try this again, señorita," Francisco gloated, pointing a finger as he held the halberd and preparing a cero.

* * *

"Hiya!" Chizuru cried, snapping her Gudon Awadateki at the tall arrancar, who neatly stepped back out of the way.

"I'm afraid that will not work, my dear," the arrancar intoned pleasantly.

"Why's that?" Chizuru asked, her voice now coming from behind the hollow. Without turning around, the arrancar leapt above the strike and headed for the newly made exit, though he lost a hair-thin sliver of his zori sandal in the process. The red haired lesbian gave chase.

"Is it 'cause I'm a girl, or something? Or is it 'cause I'm gay!?"

"Of course not," the arrancar answered, squaring off against the third seat of Squad Thirteen once more as soon as they were clear of the sewers. "Whatever gave you a ridiculous idea like that?"

"No reason," Chizuru replied, slashing her whip-shaped shikai wildly towards her enemy, "You just looked like the kind who would say that, that's all."

"I don't really understand you," he confessed, stopping the flashing whip at last by allowing it to catch itself around one of his swords. "But to answer your question-"

"Ichibubetsu Keigoku [Scorned One's Punishment]," shouted Chizuru with a grin, "Got ya, sucker!"

At her command, the several dozen gray studs that dotted the length of Chizuru's whip slid out of their places to hover in midair, just before swarming the arrancar like a volley of machine gun fire.

The arrancar gave an exasperated sigh. How rude these soul reapers were!

The song of ringing steel filled the air; the tiny steel bullets flew true, only to be deflected by two impenetrable shields. When the failed assault was complete all the red haired woman could do was stare in utter disbelief, for every single one of her projectiles had been defeated by a set of chain linked swords, each end of the weapon spun so fast that it had become a shield.

"As I was saying," the arrancar continued, flipping the hilt of each sword back into a hand one at a time, "I am number siete, number seven and the unofficial leader of the T.C. Arrancars: Don Domingo; and my special power is called the Cadena Espada Unidas- or Chain Linked Swords. Not very original nomenclature, I know, and not nearly as impressive as that of some of my colleagues, but…,"

Chizuru gasped and jumped to one side as one of Domingo's blades came hurtling towards her, the chain that connected it to its partner increasing in length endlessly until its master commanded for it to stop. The lesbian soul reaper held her side with one arm from where the swift attack had nearly gotten her. It was not a bad cut, and it would not bleed much, but it was very painful, nonetheless.

"…But I find that it gives me a rather unique edge," Domingo finished as he reeled the thrown blade back in, a slight smirk on his face though his manner was as polite as always. "And you must admit, this is a very poor weapon to use a whip against."

"Howzabout this weapon, then!? BANZAI!!" an unexpected voice shouted wildly as a very wide, gold-colored blade came down upon the arrancar. With a bored expression, the seventh arrancar turned slightly to face his opponent and held up his blade to parry, but the attack was not quite done.

"Show 'Em What We've Got: Futeki Funuke [The Fearless Coward]!" Keigo Asano shouted, his reiatsu focusing into his zanpakuto until the power burst forth. A blade-thin arc of golden spirit energy blew outwards from the Squad Elevener's blade.

"You just got cut in half!" Asano laughed triumphantly, "That's what you get for underestimating Keigo Asan-OOO!" The swordsman was sent flying backwards, winded from a tremendous kick to the stomach.

Except for where his jacket had been sliced open by Keigo's attack, Domingo was otherwise unharmed, though he was quite irritated.

"A surprise attack from the rear after pretending to be a coward?" the arrancar scolded as Chizuru caught her old friend from falling, "Really now, that's just rude. Have you no sense of honor?"

"Nope, not really!" Asano answered with a goofy grin, completely unashamed, "I charge in when I see a free spot, then I run away when they retaliate!"

"That's…not something to be proud of, Keigo," Chizuru grimaced.

"Indeed not," agreed Domingo.

"Well, whatever," Keigo shrugged as he got back to his feet on the air, "We can take this guy."

"That's right," agreed the young woman, brimming with optimism "And when we win, I might have a shot at Lieutenant Matsumoto!"

"Wh-what!? Where did that come from!?"

"Get 'em! Uzu Manniaku [Swirling Maniac]!" With that, Chizuru launched herself at the enemy, spinning her whip about her head in lasso fashion.

"What a pointless trick," Domingo scoffed, spinning one of his swords in a similar manner.

When the soul reaper let fly her weapon, though, it truly took her opponent by surprise. Seeming to stretch in a similar manner to the chains of Donmigo's swords, Chizuru's zanpakuto, rather than going in a straight line, began to zig-zag in all directions, turning this way and that as if ricocheting off of a dozen invisible walls.

Nearly panicking, the arrancar managed to remain calm enough to hold off a counter-attack, finally snagging his enemy's weapon with his already spinning blade just before the zanpakuto's spiked end reached him. He had been prepared to throw his second sword a moment later, but this did not happen. As soon as Domingo's zanpakuto met the soul reaper's, thousands of volts of electricity began pouring into his body. He nearly cried out in pain, but he was able to grit his teeth against it.

"Keigo, now!"

"You got it! Show 'Em What We've Got: Futeki Funuke!"

Another, far larger energy blade was fired from Keigo's strangely named zanpakuto, hurtling right for his immobilized opponent. With a sudden burst of strength, though, Domingo held up his unentangled hand. Crimson reiatsu poured in, despite the pain. The wide-arched cero tore through Asano's attack, and a brief recapture of that energy formed a bala that struck Chizuru hard in the chest.

Now free of the soul reaper's zanpakuto, Domingo charged at his blown-back enemy with one sword gripped tightly by the hilt, the other spinning on its chain. Just as he began to close in, a familiar reiatsu appeared behind him, and the arrancar came to a sudden halt to turn and block yet another of Asano's sneak attacks.

Snarling with impatience, the arrancar began to swing his free sword, only to find that the other had already moved! He gave a cry of pain as Asano's reitasu-enhanced blade cut open his side while the coward flew off.

"I may be a coward, but no one can top me in movement anticipation!" Keigo bragged with a wild laugh, having found a spot some twenty feet away from which he felt he could safely taunt the arrancar. "I can see an attack coming as soon as you think it, and no attack can harm me twice! I've been doing this kinda stuff for so long that- HURK!"

"Keigo!" screamed Chizuru, watching as her friend was impaled through the stomach by one of Domingo's swords, the arrancar's face twisted with annoyed impatience. She began to move forward with another crack of her whip, but the power of sonido brought her enemy behind her with a length of chain wrapped tight around her neck.

"Pardon me, madam," said Don Domingo, his voice as calm as ever. The terrified girl could feel the tip of his second sword digging into her back. "But I'm afraid that you must now die."

* * *

"Shunkan Ken: Enkou no Ken!" Yamato commanded, slashing his twin zanpakuto simultaneously to let loose blades of flame. Givos met the assault head-on, slashing apart each blade with his own weapon before moving forward with sonido. One girl with amber eyes was already waiting for him, however.

"Shyaa!" was Senna's war cry, flash stepping between her enemy and swinging Mirokumaru forward to unleash a tremendous cyclone. The primera of the arrancars was caught, unable to move as the red haired swordsman jumped up higher to send a salvo of light chakrams down on his enemy.

"Ya no Superu Hyakukyuujuuhachi" was Akira's cry of assault, combining kido with his bow. "Hado Thirty-One: Shakkaho!"

The explosion ripped the cyclone apart, sending smoke and dust in all directions.

"That got him," the half-Qunincy grinned, quite proud of himself.

"Hey! Don't let up, blockhead!" Senna scolded him, now jumping up high and letting herself fall down upon where Givos had last been seen. Numerous blades of wind began to form and swirl around her body, shredding the Japanese Maple leaves that her reiatsu generated.

Out of the smoke he suddenly came, the arrancar hurt only a little and a manic grin plastered against his face. His black and bloody reiatsu surrounded his body like a shield and his sword came down in a wide arc. Black and white spirit energy tore into each other, the arrancar's sword digging a notch into the shaft of Senna's zanpakuto even as the hundred blades began to carve increasingly severe cuts into his iron skin.

From behind him Yamato came, blades spinning furiously. Without warning, Givos broke the lock, shooting backwards with a snarl on his face. Before the dual-wielding swordsman could land a blow, the arrancar's crushing hand was locked about his neck while an ugly snarl twisted the half-hollow's lips.

"Coward! One-on-one only! Wait your turn for me to kill ya!"

Though his sword was in hand, the arrancar opted to instead slug Yamato in the face, sending him flying backwards with a cracked jaw before rushing back at Senna. Just as he was about to crash back into her guarded position, Givos suddenly found himself in the midst of a hailstorm of arrows. The amber eyed girl complimented the assault with another cyclone, but a pair of ceros, fired one after the other, cut both assaults short.

"You cowards!" the enraged arrancar spat, glaring daggers towards Senna while keeping track of both Akira and Yamato with his pesquisa senses. "Fight me one at a time! I don't care what the rest of the idiots here think, but a real man only fights one enemy at a time!" A devilish grin replaced the snarl as he growled eagerly, "It draws things out much longer, see?"

"Um, I'm not a man," Senna pointed out, her face mostly expressionless but with a hint of annoyance.

"Shut up!" the arrancar bellowed, assaulting Senna with another of his wild charges before making an abrupt leap at Akira.

Surprised as he was, Akira still managed to fire off several shots down upon the enemy before being forced to block with his zanpakuto. The bow nearly splintered under the force.

"Sanban Ken: Ryu-Dono!"

Glancing down, Givos' face suddenly broke into an eager smile as a serpentine dragon made up of light energy and flames twisted up towards him. Without flinching, he cut his left hand with his zanpakuto.

Akira took the moment's distraction to escape with his patented hirenkyaku-shunpo hybrid technique.

An enormous explosion ripped open the sky as black Gran Rey Cero and Dragon Lord collided. A momentary dawn lit up the city before fading back into dusk, throwing everything into stark contrast with the surrounding shadows.

When the spiritual pressure had faded, Yamato was on his knees and panting, while his enemy was similarly winded but also laughing.

"Great fun," the Givos Steelnail cackled with glee, "Such great fun!"

"Damn, this guy's a machine," grunted Yamato as he slowly pulled himself back to his feet, wincing from the pain of his jaw..

"More like a wild animal," Akira amended, appearing at his old friend's side.

"Look at us," the red head growled to himself, glancing all around the sky to see his comrades in similarly dire straits. "I know that we've gotten stronger since we fought Victor before, but we still can't keep up with them. We three alone are running out of power fast, and this guy hasn't hardly been wounded at all!"

Despair began to eat away at his heart as the swordsman cried out, "How can we hope to win? How can we survive this? How-?"

His voice cut off as a slender pair of arms fell across his shoulders and a gold colored shakujo staff crossed his vision.

"We can do it," whispered Senna into his ear from behind, holding her body close to his, "If we fight as one."

"That's right," Akira nodded, feeling slightly jealous at what was in his peripheral vision even as he began gathering ambient spirit particles. "We can't lose if we combine our power."

"Fight as one," whispered Senna, "We are Soul Reapers. Alone we're mighty, together we're unstoppable." She held up her staff horizontally, just before Yamato's chest.

"Shall we fight together?" she asked.

In response, two blazing swords fell blunt side down upon the staff with a slight clink. The light grew brighter, the flames burned stronger, and scarlet Japanese Maple leaves danced upon the wind in response.

"Do you even need to ask?" Yamato asked.

"I'm waiting!" Givos shouted, still standing several feet ahead and rapidly growing bored and impatient.

"We only have one shot at this," said Akira as he drew back his bow. A spirit arrow of great power took shape upon the string. "He won't stay still or far back enough after this."

"Then hit him with everything we've got," Senna replied matter-of-factly as a tightly packed ball of wind formed before the center of Mirokumaru.

"Agreed," nodded Yamato as flames trailed down from the blades of Hikari-ho no Ryu to mix with Senna's wind.

With a roar of pent-up rage, Givos charged at full speed.

"Now!" screamed Senna.

When the ball of wind exploded outward, it was as if a hurricane and a tornado had struck at once. Slashing blades of air swirled towards their target in a narrow funnel cloud, moving at speeds comparable to any of the swift movement techniques. All devouring flames incased the wind tunnel while swiftly telescoping blades of light and hundreds of spirit arrows filled the interior. Completing the attack, a final light and flame dragon encircled the tunnel and devoured Givos as the arrancar counter-attacked with another Gran Rey Cero.

Once more, the cityscape was bathed with the light of a false sunrise.

"D-did we get him?" Akira panted once the noise of the explosion had died down to a dull roar. Like his friends, he had poured nearly all of his remaining spiritual energy into that final attack.

"We better," Yamato replied, forcing himself to stay on his feet as Senna slumped against him. Were it not for the seriousness of their and their friends' situation, he would have been more glad- and more nervous- about his current proximity to the hyper, amber eyed female.

"We should," the girl sighed, her eyelids drooping with tiredness.

"You didn't," a fell voice snarled, causing all of them to jump with surprise and fear.

With a dangerous smile and an arrogant swagger, Tay Cay Primera Givos Steelnail stepped out of the still-expanding smoke cloud. His hair was disheveled, his jacket was burned away, sword chipped, hakama full of holes, and his body covered with bleeding cuts, burns and pierce wounds, but even so his spirit energy was as tremendous as ever.

"It was a nice try," the arrancar smiled as he approached the exhausted trio with deliberate slowness, "And as cowardly as it was, that was an amazing technique. I would have died if I wasn't me. Sadly, you brats forgot to take my special skill into account."

Givos stopped and licked his lips hungrily as announced, "My power is called Caníbal, and it allows me to devour spiritual energy."

The soul reaper's faces fell horribly at this announcement.

"I'd love to keep this up," the wild arrancar said sincerely even as he took up a battle stance, "But if you kids are done, then there's no point in letting you live any longer. Thanks for the fight."

The sound of displaced air announced the sonido, and his perverse spiritual pressure proclaimed his arrival a moment before the arrancar appeared before them, sword raised high and mad bloodlust in his eyes.

Instinctively they flinched and shut their eyes.

But the blow did not come. It was a moment before their ears registered the dying echo of steel on steel and Givos' surprised gasp. Just as the soul reapers began to open their eyes to see what had happened, the temperature dropped rapidly.

"My name," a familiar voice announced in a chilling voice, "Is Squad Ten Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya. Touch my subordinates again and I'll kill you!"

**To Be Continued…**

**-------**

**Preview**

Yamato- Nice save, Captain!  
Akira- Again!  
Toshiro- Just don't make it a habit!  
Senna- Captain, captain! You know what you should have said? "Have an ice day!"  
Toshiro- …  
Rangiku- That's a great idea! I love it! You should use that captain!  
Toshiro- ……..No.

**-----------**

**Omake**

Hanataro Yamada was making his rounds through Squad Four's infirmary. The sun was shining, and he had been having a very pleasant day so far, until he glanced down at his clipboard to see who he was to check on next. Then his face froze.

"Room 104- Madarame, Ikkaku and Ayasegawa, Yumichika."

The poor lad gulped.

"Um, hello?" Hanataro asked, sticking his head timidly through the door, hoping desperately that the two delinquents were asleep. No such luck.

Ikkaku and Yumichika were lounging in their beds sharing a gourd full of sake between each other and Lieutenant Iba of Squad Seven. As soon as Yamada had spoken, the mighty Ikkaku reared his head and beamed.

"Hanataro! My good buddy!" Ikkaku laughed, cheeks flushed from the alcohol.

"Y-you mean me, Mr. Madarame?" Hanataro was stunned. He pinched himself to see if he was dreaming.

"Why of course!" grinned Ikkaku, gesturing the Hanataro to come in. "You've always been there for us Squad Eleven members whenever we get beat up, no matter how much we pick on you." The drunk bald man patted the very confused medic in a brotherly sort of fashion with a hint of tears in his eyes.

"You're a good man, Hanataro!"

"So, you were saying that you're feeling better, Ikkaku?" Tetsuzaemon asked.

"Yeah, I must be getting used to Yachiru's attacks or something."

"Well, you are a pretty tough man, Mr. Madarame," squeaked Hanataro.

"Say, Hanataro," Ikkaku suddenly asked, his expression instantly filling the young medic with dread, "How'd you like to help me stretch out my muscles?"

* * *

"No! Please! Stop! Ow! Ow! Please! Ow!"

Captain Unohana sighed as she slid open the door to room 104, then started with especial anger. Dangling from the roof by a rolled up bedsheet was Hantaro, looking all the world like some strange piñata. The effect was increased by Ikkaku's constant beating of the poor boy with a shinai practice sword. When Ikkaku, Tetsuzaemon and Yumichika looked up to see who it was, all three nearly fainted in fear, while Hanataro smiled painfully.

* * *

"What the hell do you mean that Ikkaku and Yumichika are going to have to stay in the infirmary for two months!?" Kenpachi Zaraki demanded of Isane Kotetsu upon reading the file that the girl had just been sent in with. "I thought you said yesterday that it was only going to be for a couple of days!"

"There were…complications," the timid girl finally explained, fidgeting. The way she paused before the word "complications" and her body language told Kenpachi all that he needed to know.

"Oh, did Baldy and Feather Brow do something dumb again?" Yachiru asked with far too much cheeriness from where she had been coloring on the floor. Strangely, even after two hundred years, her appearance and demeanor was still that of a small (though admittedly older) child.

"Yes," groaned Kenpachi, hitting his head on his desk, nearly breaking it in two. "As soon as they get back, I'm going to kill those two."

**--------------**

**Author's Request: **Please don't forget to review! Only reviews can motivate me to pump out new chapters without waiting for a month or so to pass by. Favorites without any sort of review will not. So if you desire another chapter before Easter, then please make this emotionally starved author feel motivated to please his fans by sending reviews. The emotionally starved author thanks you! =D

Kon- You are so pathetic

Me- Am not.

Kon- I'm never dictating for you again. Goodbye

Me- No! Come back!


	9. Chapter 9: War! The Haori Vs

**Author's Note- **Wahoo! Three chapters in as many weeks! I'm on fire! Hope that you all enjoy this epic conclusion to the battle of the that began two chapters ago. Just a couple semi-spoiler notes before I get started: First off, I'm a big supporter of Ichihime and Rukirenji, so in this story the two pairings are currently married (just a reminder for those who may have forgotten). Sorry for Ichiruki and Ishihime and whatever fans, but please give it a chance.  
- Second, for those who don't remember (and I wouldn't really be surprised if you did), Rikichi is, in canon, an unranked officer of Squad Six who looks up to Renji and has even had tattoos similar to Renji's printed above his eyes. He appears at the Squad Six barracks right after Renji and Byakuya get back from capturing Rukia, springs Hanataro from jail to have him heal Renji after losing to Byakuya near the end of the Soul Society arc, appears briefly in the Bount and Zanpakuto Unknown Tales arcs, and even has a small appearance in the Squad Six version of Houkiboshi. His zanpakuto in this story is my own creation, since he never releases in the series (and may not even have shikai yet).  
- Finally, I dedicate this chapter to my long time supporter and friend Aiedail Scepter, as known as Stardust Dreams. In commemoration, I've given a bit of a cameo to a certain someone from her own Bleach story _The Seed Shrouded By Night__**. **_Check it out if you have not already! Now, on with the story!

**Disclaimer- **I do not own-  
Kon- Nope.  
Me- Huh?  
Kon- Nope.  
Me- Wait, are you mad because you haven't appeared yet?  
Kon- Perhaps.  
Me- Well-  
Kon- That, and maybe because I haven't seen any of those hot chicks that you promised me yet!  
Me- Umm… 0_0;  
Kon- I haven't seen so much as a pure of a scantily clad babe, and you expect me to work under conditions like this!?  
Me- Alright, alright! You can appear in the next chapter.  
Kon- Sweet!  
Me- And by that I mean two chapters from now.  
Kon- WHY YOU!!  
*censored for unnecessary violence*

**Chapter 9: War! The Haori vs. Aizen's Contingency**

"Now, let's try this again, señorita," Francisco gloated, pointing a finger as he held his halberd with the other one, a cero growing on his fingertip.

Taka Shivoran held her ground, face set in a defiant scowl even as she summoned up her spiritual pressure for her very last attack: self destruct.

Before either party could unleash their final assault, a massive reiatsu shook the heavens above them. Looking up, they saw a blue wave of energy screaming down at them. With no time to dodge, Francisco adjusted the aim of his cero to counterattack while Taka took the arrancar's moment of distraction to free her sword and pull back. She'd never been a believer in the kamikaze combat style anyway.

When the opposing streams of destruction had died away, Francisco was panting hard. He had been forced to pour far more power into that cero than he usually did, and even then he had nearly succumbed. When he had regained his breath, the arrancar looked back towards his opponents, only to give a startled gasp upon finding himself face-to-face with a fourth enemy; an enemy who possessed massive spiritual energy that felt to be only halfway restrained, an enemy wearing the white haori of the soul reaper captains, an opponent with red hair and an enormous zanpakuto.

"C-captain…K-," Taka began to stutter in amazement, utterly taken by surprise at the newcomer's arrival, but the captain had already flash stepped to join Yuzu and her badly injured twin.

"I-Ichigo, what're you doing here?" Yuzu asked her brother as she lightly held her gauntleted hand against her sister's injury, which was engulfed with softly flickering orange tongues of flame. Though it could used for pyrokinetic attacks, Yuzu Kurosaki's O-Hi no Neko's flames were primarily for the binding of wounds and the purifying of the konpaku of imperfections.

"How's Karin doing?" Ichigo asked as he knelt down beside his sisters, ignoring the question for the moment.

"Sh-she'll make it," the sandy haired girl answered meekly, trying her hardest to hold back the flood of sorrow, "She mostly needs to rest for now."

"Good," he answered, returning to his feet. Just as he began to turn back to face the enemy arrancar, a weak voice called his name. He glanced back.

"Kick his butt for me, Captain," the wounded Kurosaki grinned painfully towards her over-protective sibling, ignorant of her twin's protests for her to lie back down.

The red haired captain's constant scowl disappeared in exchange for a smile.

"Count on it," said Ichigo Kurosaki, turning back towards Francisco with a look of determination. Gripping Zangetsu, he removed the massive blade from his back with a flurry of swirling cloth, revealing the triple horizontal lines of san, the number three.

Meanwhile, the Spaniard had been waiting patiently for the Kurosaki's to finish, both out of chivalry and out of fear; but now that the warrior's hate-filled brown eyes had been turned upon him, Francisco de Juan realized that he hadn't been nearly afraid enough. The thought that he still wasn't passed through his mind for a moment, but he brushed it aside, for it would require all of his skill and power to survive.

"Getsuga TENSHO!"

Sonido was barely enough to save the Spaniard from Kurosaki's energy arc, but far too slow to track the hero-Captain's movements.

"Gotcha," Ichigo growled from behind, immediately following up with a mighty strike to Francsico's back. Though his shell protected him, the arrancar still yelped as the force of the blow shook his entire body. He nearly crashed into the pavement below, but by firing a bala at the last moment he was able to launch himself back into the air, away from the third division captain.

"Huh," the red head stated, hefting up his zanpakuto and glancing at the edge. "That armor of yours is pretty tough. Even with my power restricted from being in the world of the living, I figured I would have been able to cut through that."

Turning back to the arrancar, he said, "Even so, I should be able to beat you as I am. But…" His eyes turned cold as he added, "For what you did to my sister, I'm not going to hold back."

Francisco froze in fear as Ichigo Kurosaki held up his Zangetsu with one arm and braced it with the other. The cloth which adorned the hilt extended and wrapped itself around his outstretched arm.

Francisco de Juan knew then that he would soon face true terror.

* * *

"Reap: Kazeshini!"

Victor Benito leapt back and allowed his cero to disappear as a black mass of spinning blades separated him from his prey, Yoshi Ichinose, before returning to its owner like a yo-yo from hell.

"Shuhei Hisagi," the man announced himself, sleeveless haori flapping in the slight night breeze, twin pin-wheel bladed scythes in a steel grip, their connecting chains clinking eerily in the night, "Captain of the Ninth Division."

"Butt-out, Scar Face, I can handle this loser by myself," Yoshi snapped with much venom.

"Yes, I can see that," Shuhei replied with only the barest hint of irony.

"Why you stupid punk rocker!"

"Don't insult my captain!" a blond haired man who had just appeared behind Yoshi snapped, "Show some gratitude. He just saved you and your brother's life!"

"The lieutenant's right, sis," nodded Maki, stepping up to the man's side.

"Shut up, I don't have to take this crap!"

"Why you-!"

"Izuru!" the captain barked, "Now's not the time."

Izuru Kira looked down shamefaced while Yoshi gave a disinterested snort. Maki just looked exasperated.

"Indeed, gentlemen, now is not the time to be arguing amongst yourselves," the arrancar Victor hissed, annoyed at having been ignored. He disappeared with a sonido, only to appear behind Shuhei, blade speeding towards the base of his skull with a surgeon's precision.

The leader of squad nine didn't even check his peripheral vision as he casually hoisted one of the blades of Kazeshini behind him to block. Then with lightning speed he turned, swinging the second blade as he came.

The arrancar managed to evade the worst of the assault with an angry sneer, but looked down a moment later in shock and worry upon seeing that not only had a long, freely bleeding cut been etched into his chest, but part of his shield had been scratched as well.

"I won't draw this out longer than necessary," Shuhei announced calmly, "And I have no illusions about taking a wily one like you captive either. So I guess there's no point in fighting half-heartedly."

Giving those words a moment to sink in, the spiky-haired captain raised his blades above his head and crossed them. A strong wind began to swirl and gust around his body, while a black mist began to curl about the blades of his ever blood-hungry zanpakuto.

"I'd advise you to stand back," Shuhei said, turning towards Maki and Yoshi. He noted with satisfaction that his lieutenant and long-time friend had already retreated some distance off. "I need a lot of room to swing this."

Not waiting to see if the pair of squad elevener's would comply or not, Hisagi turned back towards his enemy, only to see that Victor had fled as well.

"'The Kurotsuchi of the group,' indeed," the captain smiled, "He knows what's coming next."

A moment later his reiatsu exploded as he uttered the words of his full release.

* * *

"Some no Mai: Tsukishiro!"

"Roar! Zabimaru!"

The tip of the sword still in Don Domingo's hand snapped off, the casualty of surviving the all-consuming pillar of ice that now stood where he had been a moment before; while the chain of his zanpakuto was shattered by a whip-like blade which cleaved through it with ease.

Looking about, the gentlemanly arrancar soon found his attacks. One was a very short woman wearing a sleeveless white haori with a light blue, silk scarf wrapped about her neck; the other was a tall man who wore a matching coat and bore a head full of wild, bright red spikes.

Flanking the two, though neither with active shikai, was a meek-looking girl with black hair pulled back into a bun and tied over with a cloth, and a young man with black hair- a few short strands of which were beaded- and bearing several tattoos similar to those of his captain.

"Wow, you guys don't look so good," the wild, red haired captain chuckled.

"Chizuru," the short one sighed, "I keep telling you to be more careful."

"C-CAPTAAAAAAAIN!" the briefly startled Chizuru suddenly shrieked. She leapt for her superior with stars in her eyes, all thoughts of the battle forgotten. She was easily rebuffed by a foot to the face by Renji, however.

"How many times do we have to tell you?" Lieutenant Momo Hinamori shouted down at Chizuru as the unfazed lesbian righted herself, "Leave the captain alone! She's married, for heaven's sake!"

"Leave her alone, Momo," replied Renji, lazily picking his nose, "That's just how she is."

"And besides," replied Rukia, taking slow, graceful steps towards their enemy, "Now is not the time for such childishness. Now is the time to destroy the Soul Society's enemies."

"Brr, I hate it when she acts like this," Fifth division lieutenant Rikichi shivered, "It's just so…unlike her. It's scary."

"She just does it to act cool like Captain Kuchiki," the lad's captain snorted, "It's the same reason why she bought that stupidly expensive scarf. You, Chizuru, and Momo are probably the only ones who're impressed by that lame act, though."

Rukia stopped dead in her tracks and twitched visibly at her husband's snide but true comments. She considered freezing him for a moment- not for the first time- but for the moment decided against it.

Confused though he was by this sudden turn for the silly, Domingo was still prepared to fight. Turning to where he expected Asano's falling body to be at, he was surprised to find that not only was the annoying soul reaper that he had impaled not plummeting to his death, but his spiritual pressure could still be felt, accompanied now by a far more powerful one.

Spinning on his heel, the arrancar found himself staring at a beautiful young woman with fiery locks propping up Asano's body, a golden shield wrapped around the injured soul reaper's body as his rescuer gently eased Domingo's sword from the other's stomach.

A snarl crossed the chief arrancar's face before he thrust out his arm and called to his weapon, his power. With instant obedience, the sword pulled itself out of his enemy's body to return to its master, causing Keigo to give a loud yelp while Orihime gasped in pain as her fingers were cut.

Unexpectedly, the returning blade smacked Chizuru hilt-first, hard. The manic lesbian had also just noticed the presence of her favorite well-endowed goddess and had been in mid grope-leap at just the wrong moment.

Though Domingo continued to drag his zanpakuto to him by will and caught it impressively, all who were present took a moment to watch as the out of control third seat this time fell all the way down to the hard pavement below.

"Owch, that looked like it hurt," Renji observed.

"Serves her right!" Momo sniffed.

"Enough, I grow tired of these antics," Domingo barked, his patience running thin. With a soft snap, the chain of his zanpakuto reconstituted itself and the next moment it was whirling in the air beside him. With a slightly strained grunt he hurled it towards Momo, only to be easily batted aside by a series of blade segments connected by tough fiber cord.

"In a battle of long range melee weapons, I can't be beat," Renji bragged, raising Zabimaru up for an offensive swing, "Now Roa-!"

The captain paused as Domingo disappeared.

'_Sonuva…! Szayel wasn't that fast!'_ were the Captain's thoughts just before his enemy's reiatsu appeared right above him.

Renji Abarai prepared for to block another long-range sword-strike, but instead the arrancar formed a cero on the tip of one of his swords and _hurled it_. Renji stared for a second, transfixed by surprise until he realized that the attack was moving _faster_ than a bala. He raised Zabimaru to deflect it, but it was already too late.

"San no Mai: Shirafune!" Rukia commanded, spearing the cero from far off with an extended blade of ice. The energy ball exploded harmlessly above them.

"Pay attention, stupid!" the tiny woman berated. Turning to the lieutenants, she ordered, "Momo! Rikichi! Get Orihime and Keigo moved, now! We're probably going to have to work a bit harder against this guy."

Rikichi's eyes lit up at the implication of what this meant, but, grudgingly, took off as ordered. Momo grabbed a hold of Keigo's arm and pulled his shoulder over her head, in imitation of Orihime. Together, the two lieutenants took off with Keigo to find someplace safe, the fate-reversing healing shield of the Shun-Shun Rika still in place. The young Rikichi followed as rear guard.

Now Domingo was behind Renji, and only a near-miss by Sode no Shirayuki and Zabimaru forced him back.

"An annoying b*****d, this guy," the red head growled.

"Don't underestimate him, then" his wife replied matter-of-factly, raising up her snow-white zanpakuto before her face.

Renji just nodded and held his own weapon up high.

Don Domingo pinched his face in deep concern as the two already massive reiatsu dwarfed his own even more.

* * *

"C-Captain!" Yamato gasped from behind the three new comers. "Lieutenant! W-what are you guys doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" was Toshiro's curt reply, right before having to shunpo ahead to meet Givos sword-to-sword.

"Isn't what obvious?" asked Senna as the remaining two turned to face them.

With long cascading strands of golden red, pink scarf, and an ill-exposed bosom, the taller one was very clearly Rangiku Matsumoto. The other was at least a head shorter than Captain Hitsugaya, but with snowy white hair and emerald eyes that perfectly matched his, though the girl's hair was much longer and had a pair of purple ribbons entwined amongst it. On her right hip was a zanpakuto with an all red hilt and scabbard and a flower petal shaped guard.

"What's obvious," Rangiku answered, as bubbly as ever, "Is that this was a set up."

"A set up!?" Akira demanded, suddenly forcing Yamato to hold him up for some reason, "For us?"

"No, the arrancar, stupid," Senna answered.

The partial-Quincy turned and made a face at the violet haired girl, who responded by sticking out her tongue. Yamato just made an irritated growl in his throat while exerting much of his remaining spiritual energy to keep them up in the air.

"Exactly, Senna-chan!" the busty lieutenant smiled, though her face darkened with seriousness as she turned back towards the battle and said, "These guys aren't very strong, but Captain Hitsugaya, Captain Kyoraku, and several of the others were afraid of the possibility that they might get more powerful soon, especially since they claim to be part of Sosuke Aizen's Arrancar Army from two centuries ago. However, we do know already that they're experts at getting away from even the strongest of us."

"And so," the white haired girl said, her eyes fixated eagerly upon the raging battle in the sky. It was the first time that she had spoken for much of that night. "A group of the strongest mid-ranked officers were selected to flush these arrancar out-,"

"And into the waiting arms of the captains," Yamato finished.

"Exactly," nodded Rangiku.

"So why us?" asked Senna, her amber eyes narrowed and her voice dangerously low. She hated being kept in the dark more than anything else. It made her feel betrayed.

"For the same reasons that the Head Captain gave you, of course," the busty lieutenant replied, bewildered by her friend's growing animosity. "You weren't lied to, and Captain Ukitake _did_ say right before you left that there'd be back-up in case things got too hairy."

"That's…true," Senna conceded. She wasn't entirely convinced, but she considered Rangiku a good enough friend that she could let it slide…this time.

The lieutenant gave a sigh of relief, glad to have avoided a confrontation with her newest girl friend. She'd always hated getting into disputes with those that she cared about; though she was equally glad that she hadn't been pushed to mentioning that one other reason, the one that Captain Hitsugaya had confided to her and the squad's third seat just before they had taken off.

'_Don't either of you breathe a word of this to anyone,'_ he had said, even more serious than usual, _'But Captain Ukitake is afraid that they may be targeting Senna specifically for some unknown reason. None of us liked it, especially me, and Kurosaki even more so, but in the end we all decided that she's likely the best way to lure the arrancar out._

'_I don't make this decision lightly, of course; but this might be our only chance to finish these creatures off quickly. If Aizen thought the possibility of defeat great enough to leave more numerous behind as a contingency, then I seriously doubt that they're the only things that were left behind.'_

Though she was her usual blissful self on the outside, Rangiku Matsumoto felt sick inside. This was something very important, and for old sour puss-Histsugaya to trust her with secret information like this, it was a position that any of the other lieutenants would have felt proud to be in (generally speaking). But still…She hated keeping secrets from people; it always made her feel like she was betraying them. Just like _he_ had…

Gin Ichimaru's name was on her lips, but just then a flash of a cero tore through the sky and caused her to look up in sudden worry.

"Captain!" she called, though it was clear that the young warrior had been in no danger.

"Don't worry," the white haired girl at her side smiled. "Captain Hitsugaya will be alright. Believe in him."

The older woman couldn't help but return the infectious grin. It was even more gratifying to see it from someone who had used to so rarely give them.

"You're right," she replied, the turmoil of her soul going back to sleep at the sight her friend's pure idealism and faith. "Thanks, Ri-chan."

"I've been meaning to ask you, Mato," Senna said a moment later into the addressed's ear, still holding onto him despite being well enough to stand on her own now. She was just enjoyed her perch too much. "Who is she?"

"Hmm?" Yamato answered, returning from his internal debate about suddenly allowing the lazy Akira to fall. They were, after all, sinking several centimeters every second now.

"That short kid," Senna clarified, pointing.

"You shouldn't point, it's not polite," Akira pointed out, "And besides, she's probably a lot older than you."

The girl in question twitched.

"Off!" Yamato decided, letting go and bucking his shoulder suddenly. His friend fell several feet with a yell before catching himself, much to the red head and his remaining passenger's amusement.

"Me?" the girl asked, reluctantly turning away from watching her captain in action.

"Yeah," Senna interrogated, "I've seen you around the barracks several times, usually around the captain. Are you two brother and sister or something? Cause you sure look an awful lot alike. Plus, it's really obvious that you're real close."

"Senna!" Yamato scolded, though his words fell on deaf ears.

The girl blushed horribly at the statement, the pink of her cheeks coming out very bright against her pale skin. Rangiku guffawed uncontrollably.

"N-n-n-no! Not at- I mean-!" she stammered, "Well, yes I'm-that is, er, I'm the squad's third seat you see, and-,"

"Look out!" Rangiku warned in an urgent but controlled voice, tugging the third seat out of the way just in time for Toshiro to reappear where she had been standing a moment ago, his breathing somewhat strained. Givos appeared several feet ahead a moment later.

"Man! You're awful strong for a kid!"

"And you've become quite annoying," Toshiro barked back harshly.

"Watch out, Captain!" Yamato called from behind, Senna still clinging to his back, "He can absorb-!"

"I already know that! Thanks for telling me before we started fighting, Insei!" the adolescent swordsman barked back, very annoyed. Then he turned back to his enemy. "Damn it, well with an eighty-percent power restriction, I guess I have no choice for someone with your powers."

"Hear that?" the third seat squealed excitedly. She flash stepped further back (though not too far back), followed closely by a grinning Rangiku, as well as the two fourth seats and Akira.

Givos also grinned, his excitement growing with every passing moment.

* * *

"Bankai!" five voices called out in unintentional but near-perfect unison, lighting the night with the brightness of their exponentially expanding reiatsu. Glass creaked, buildings moaned, dogs howled, and even the most spiritually deaf humans awoke from their slumber as they felt a pressure like that of the sea crushing down against them for a moment.

* * *

Wings and tail of ice,  
Strength of the dragon,  
Three blossoms blooming.  
A frozen aura that threatened to encase the earth in his frozen passion.

"Daiguren Hyōrinmaru!"

* * *

Black flapping cloak,  
Bloody lining,  
A black daito longsword,  
The broken chain and the mark of fullness.  
An aura which overwhelmed all enemies with the weight of the titans.

"Tensa Zangetsu!"

* * *

Serpent of bone,  
Beast's red mane,  
Ape fur cowl wrapped about his shoulders.  
An aura that smashed all within its path.

White and flowing,  
The imperial kimono,  
The snowy blade and the snowflake shield,  
Ribbons gently dancing in the breeze.  
An aura that kissed you gently before freezing you to death.

"Hihiō Zabimaru!"

"Kisakiyuki Sode no Shirayuki [Empress of Snow White Snow of Sleeves]!"

* * *

Twin scythes like the pinwheel,  
Now two chains in the stead of one,  
Shadow green scarf that flapped in the deadly breeze,  
Surrounded by ten spinning reapers, an executioner's hurricane swirling about.

"Kazagurumajuu Kazeshini [Ten Windmill Death Wind]!"

* * *

Givos Steelnail was now being completely overwhelmed, with spikes and blades of ice sprouting from all directions, trying to engulf him. Though he could devour spirit energy, he could only take in so much, and reiatsu that was fused with the elements pushed him towards his limit even faster. The battle was no longer fun, not when he wasn't even allowed to wield his full power.

The arrancar swore to himself as he barely dodged yet another wave of deadly frost. The Sexta's numeros had been able to take on captains and captain levels at twenty-percent power using resurrección; and that feast of souls at that mall had left him and the other time capsules at around the same strength as a Privaron Espada! Givos swore again. If only he could use his power! If only…

"Hyōryū Senbi!"

Givos was startled out of his tirade in time to fire another cero at the oncoming arc of ice. The energy blast tore through the attack, but far less easily than it should have. He swore a third time. It was even becoming difficult to use cero! He stepped back with sonido as the white haired captain lunged at him again, only to find himself back-to-back now with Victor.

"Don't use it, Givos," the intellectual warned, keeping his eyes glued to the charging Hisagi. "Don't use resurrección, or else you'll end the growth period prematurely."

"I know that," the primera spat, watching as Hitsugaya began to conjure a winged, icy dragon. Half a moment later he asked, "Where's Don?"

"How should I know?" the other demanded, the two arrancar moving in separate directions to evade one of the ten giant shuriken chained to Captain Hisagi's scythes.

"Well find him," Givos demanded, timing his next sonido jump carefully as Toshiro's ice dragon sped towards him with jaws gaping wide. "It's time to go."

"Ah, so even the mighty Givos Steelnail feels fear sometimes?" Victor teased when Givos had reappeared, only to have to evade a salvo of giant blades from his own enemy. Just as he made his own reappearance, however, one of Hisagi's double edged scythes came speeding towards him. He dodged with sonido again, but when he had completed the move he could feel strength leeching out from him, and a notable absence of feeling in his lowest extremity. Glancing down, the puppet armed arrancar cursed heartily upon discovering that his right foot was missing.

"Agreed," Victor nodded reluctantly, "You get Francisco, and I Domingo; though I'm sure that they're thinking the same thing by now."

Givos replied with yet another burst of sonido.

* * *

"Getsuga TENSHO!"

Ichigo Kurosaki watched as the armored arrancar dodged again, more slowly than the last time. Watching the ebony shockwave crash into a building, he reminded himself to thank the Kidō Corps. later for the spatial barriers that so often saved so many mortal lives.

When the arrancar reappeared, it was to thrust widely at the captain's face with his halberd, a move that Ichigo easily blocked with Zangetsu.

"You're awful determined," the strawberry soul reaper observed, the worst of his anger now replaced with pity upon seeing how much his enemy was having to struggle.

"I have much to be determined for, señor," was the hollow's reply, pulling out of the lock to raise his weapon high with desperation, only to receive an intentionally shallow slash across the chest by Ichigo.

"But why!?" the redhead demanded as Francisco breathed heavily before him. "I don't get it! Aizen's dead! How can you possibly have any reason to keep fighting for him!?"

"I fight…," the Spaniard panted, "To make up for a mistake that I made; long, long ago, when I was alive and jovenzuelo. Now I fight for my Mistress, and Aizen el rey gave me the power to do so. That is why…," a golden cero now formed along the blade of his halberd, "…I will not back down!"

"Idiot!" was Ichigo's reply, countering the energy arc with a weaker one of his own. When the power had dissipated, he rushed in again, hoping to render the arrancar unconscious in order to capture him alive. Just then, a savage-looking arrancar with blade-like dreadlocks appeared right in front of him, locking swords with the legendary captain.

"Surprise!" Givos smiled in a way that reminded his enemy of Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, right before attacking with a surprised bala to the stomach. Ichigo flew backwards, stunned momentarily; a fact which Givos exploited eagerly, firing off three more increasingly weaker spiritual bullets (all of which hit their mark) before moving in to slash the captain in two.

At the last moment though, not only was Ichigo able to parry the stroke, but also countered with a strong back kick to the chin. He was then forced to take a moment to swear loudly for his stupidity, having nearly broken his foot against the iron skin of the arrancar.

"What are you-?" Francisco began to question.

"Pack it up, we're going," Givos snarled, gripping his slightly bleeding chin. The soul reaper's kick had done even more damage to him than the recoil had to the kicker.

Reluctantly, Francisco nodded. Together, they raised their hands and charged what little energy remained available in them for an attack. A double cero, red and gold, spun towards Ichigo, but a wave of his black sword and a cry of "Getsuga Tensho!" stopped the oncoming doom with a mighty explosion. When the light and smoke had cleared away, however, both of them were gone.

* * *

"Some no Mai: Tsukishiro!"

A dozen icy pillars sprouted from the ground like flowers in spring, each one expertly avoided by the wily Don Domingo, only to be shattered like porcelain figures by the mammoth strength of the serpentine Hihō Zabimaru.

Domingo used sonido and appeared just above the back of Zabimaru, swords spinning buzzsaw-like. With a strained cry he struck, breaking the section of vertebrae in two. The massive bankai's decapitated head began to fall.

"Sorry, pal," grinned Renji, pulling back on the end of Zabimaru's tail, "But my bankai's much tougher than that!"

Complying with its master's words, Hihō Zabimaru's broken section fell off from both ends just before the head reared to life again and flew towards its prey, mighty jaws opened wide.

"Negro Sonico."

Violent waves of conflicting spiritual vibrations swept through the air. Zabimaru gave a screech, shuddered, then began to plummet to earth, its body breaking apart.

"What the hell!?" Renji shouted in shock as Rukia began her next assault.

"Time to beat a brave retreat, I suppose?" Domingo questioned, sheathing his swords with a flourish.

"Past time," Victor corrected. He quickly spotted Givos and Francisco as they reappeared from sonido several meters off.

"Most certainly," the Don nodded, reaching into an inner coat pocket.

"Tsugi no Mai," Rukia commanded from down below, four thin pillars of snow white reiatsu rising up from in front of her, "Hakuren!" With that, a flying avalanche shot from her zanpakuto, a crushing wall of ice and snow which froze and crushed all within its path.

"Too late," Victor grinned as Domingo thumbed the tiny cube which rested in his palm.

Instantly, the two arrancars were enveloped within a pillar of orange energy, whose apex disappeared into a rift in the sky which had been torn open by its very materialization. The Hakuren assault passed through the pillar and its occupants as if they weren't there, while a second pillar extended out horizontally to engulf Givos and Francisco. As this second dimensional warp continued on indefinitely, a third pillar extended up from where the first and fourth of the Time Capsule Arrancar stood, bending towards and entering into the same garganta that the first had created.

"A negación!" Shuhei gasped as the idle windmill blades of his bankai orbited his body lazily, recalling that day two centuries ago when his traitorous mentor Kaname Tosen had vanished from the Soul Society in a similar pillar.

"Specifically," corrected Don Domingo as he and his companions began to ascend towards Hueco Mundo, "A special type of caja negaciōn that Lord Aizen had developed by his last Octava Espada for evacuating large groups. This was the only one that was made, so feel lucky that we had to resort to this."

"Oh, please," scoffed Renji, finding that he now had control over Zabimaru once again. As the scattered sections of his bankai fitted themselves back together again, the serpent head gave an angry hissing roar.

"The garganta, quickly!" Toshiro exclaimed, pointing upwards with his sword, "If we can close that gate, then we can stop them from escaping!"

"I'm on it!" Ichigo declared, gathering all of his spirit energy for high-speed flight. Less than a second later he was moving higher and higher into the sky at speeds normally reserved for only the most dedicated shunpo specialists. He had nearly reached his goal when a second garganata opened, this one _inside_ of the negación, and belched out a cero. The red haired captain was able to stop only just in time.

"The hell!?" Ichigo bellowed as the most enormous gillian he had ever seen tore its way out of the second rift.

It was easily one of the single biggest living things that anyone there had ever seen, and certainly one of the more bizarre. Three times the height and girth of a gillian, it also looked almost exactly like the initial form of the menos grande, but with four extra heads growing out from the sides, seven hands, and a single glowing yellow eye glowering down from just below its hollow hole.

"A little pet of Lord Aizen's," Givos shouted down as he and his fellows neared the garganta, "It was sealed within the caja negación cube and only comes out to play when it's activated. Have fun! Buwhahahaha!"

With the red haired captain the closest thing to it, the freakish hollow reached towards Ichigo with one of its incredible, pale claws. Getsuga Tensho was Ichigo's response to the beast's advancement instantly searing the claw away, but within moments pale white tentacles had sprouted from the stump, twisting and shaping themselves together until it had once more become a hand.

"What was that? Instant regeneration? From a gillian!?" Renji cried in disbelief at seeing his friend's mightiest technique being so easily shrugged off.

"Don't be stupid Renji, it's not that big of a deal," scoffed Rukia, causing her husband to turn to give her a strange look.

"She's right," Toshiro replied, coming down to hover beside the two. "Instant regeneration isn't a problem if you kill the hollow before it can heal itself."

"And how do you plan on doing that, Toshiro? Wait for gentai kaijou authorization?"

The adolescent warrior scowled at the other and corrected through gritted teeth, "Captain Hitsugaya!"

"Yeah, whatever. So, what do we do?"

"What _you_ are going to do- as in you, Ichigo and Hisagi," Rukia supplied as the other flash stepped to join them, "Is distract that thing until Captain Hitsugaya and I are ready."

"And then you get out of our way," finished Toshiro with cold bluntness.

"Umm, I'm not sure that I like this plan," complained Ichigo as another stream of ceros came screaming down, only to be blocked by Hisagi's spinning blades, one of which shattered a moment later.

"Well we don't seem to have much choice," Shuhei scolded. With that he took off, followed by a grumbling Ichigo and Renji.

Rotating blades, roaring serpents and arcs of reiatsu filled the night, exploding and tearing and gouging until it seemed that there could be nothing left; but even so, the hollow's wounds continued to heal, ceros continued to fly, and claws continued to grasp. On and on the captain's fought, but unable to wield their full power, they could not overcome the beast. More than once their lieutenants and other subordinates attempted to move in to help, but always they were ordered to turn back. Too dangerous they would say, even as they themselves continued to dance with death.

Down below the massive gillian's waistline, two wielders of ice were concentrating their power until the time was right. Freezing air surrounded their bodies, causing whatever liquid that was in the air to harden and rain down as snow; but so used to it from their own power were they that they didn't even notice the cold. Snow and ice, flurries and hail converged about them. Then at last they were ready.

"Out of the way!" was Toshiro's one and only warning before numerous ice pillars of considerable height materialized out of the atmosphere.

As her fellow captains fled the scene whilst continuing to draw the beast's attention, Rukia first raised the sword in her hand, then the large snowflake-shaped shield in her left. The four white ribbons which hung from its tip flowed gracefully about the pure white kimono that she wore with bankai.

"Shi no Mai," she chanted, spinning the shield elegantly before her, "Houyouyukionna [Fourth Dance: Snow Maid's Embrace]!"

With the speed of serpents, the four ribbons of her shield extended and snapped forward, entwining themselves about the massive body and embracing the mutated menos.

"Sennen Hyōrō!" Histsugaya commanded, holding out Hyorinmaru and rotating the star-shaped hilt ninety degrees counterclockwise. Obediently, the pillars of ice converged upon the enemy, even as tendrils of ice began to spread from the ribbons of his comrade's frozen dance.

With a horrendous, seven voiced shriek, the hollow was entombed within a prison of ice and then shattered in a storm of sparkling crystal.

But it was all for not. The garganta had closed. Aizen's contingency plan, the Time Capsule Arrancars, had escaped yet again.

**To Be Continued….**

**Preivew:**

**Kariya- **Buwhaha! And now the Bounts shall rise!  
**Yamato- **But what the heck's a Bount!?  
**Kurotsuchi- **Well, I'm very glad that you asked that, young man.  
**Toshiro- **Finally, looks like there's finally going to be an actual preview.  
**Kurotsuchi- ***begins bouncing a small rubber ball* Things bounce like this due to a transference of energy between...  
**Kariya- ***falls over*  
**Yamato- **I said Bount, not bounce!  
**Toshiro- ***sweat dropping* ....

**Omake: **

Captains Ichigo Kurosaki, Renji Abarai, Rukia Kuchiki Abarai, Shuhei Hisagi and Toshiro Hitsugaya were gathered atop a tall building in the human city, accompanied by their respective lieutenants Orihime Inoue Kurosaki, Rikichi, Momo Hinamori, Izaru Kira, and Rangiku Matsumoto, along with Hitsugaya's third seat. All but three of the group were sitting crosslegged in a circle and playing cards. Shuhei had been elected to keep a lookout for the other soul reapers and arrancars, and so was situated at the building's edge with a large pair of binoculars. Toshiro was sitting off in a corner by himself as he was often prone to doing, while Rikichi simply stood at Ichigo's shoulder and observing the game with interest.

"Ichigo, any queens?"

"Sorry, Orihime."

"Izuru, any sixes?"

"Just gave the last of them to Momo, Rangiku."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot."

"Twos, Lieutenant Hinamori?"

"Yep, and please, just call me Momo, Aria."

"Renji, hand over all of your aces."

Renji turned over his cards to Rukia with a sigh, but then suddenly reared on Ichigo with an evil grin that made the other male red head look somewhat nervous.

"Ichigo," he declared, "Got any threes?"

"Damn it," Ichigo growled as he turned over the card that he had just drawn. His hand was growing dangerously thin.

"Um, any eights, then?"

"If I did, then you wouldn't," the leader of Squad Fice said cryptically, a devious smile on his face.

Ichigo's eyebrows furrowed with suspicion, but didn't say anything else.

They went around again, and then Renji said, "Tens," his eyes locked on his rival.

"Damn," growled Ichigo once more, wondering how Renji could be doing that.

Another round.

Renji glanced past Ichigo's shoulder, contemplating.

"Kings!"

Ichigo glanced about before speaking. Everyone had grins and smiles in various stages of being hidden or supressed, even ever-gloomy Izuru! He glanced up towards Rikichi, who was staring off into the distance, but for a split second it had looked like he had been facing...

"GO FISH!" Ichigo declared, his suspicions confirmed.

"LIAR!" Renji yelled back, jumping to his feet.

"Uh, guys, I think they're ready for some back-up now," Shuhei announced, but Renji ignored him.

"Liar, liar, liar, liar! Cheating at Go Fish! Have you no honor, Ichigo Kurosaki!?"

"So how do you know that I'm lying?" Ichigo demanded calmly from the ground.

Renji's face fell as his lieutenant gradually skooted away from his previous position.

"Um, uh...."

Now everyone was openly grinning; everyone but for Shuhei and Toshiro, who had gotten up to stand by the former's side.

"It's cause you were cheating, wasn't it?" Ichigo demanded, jumping to his own feet, "No honor, huh? At least I wouldn't sink so low as to have my lieutenant look over other people's shoulder to tell me what the other guy's cards are!"

"Guys! Seriously!"

"Come on, you idiots! It's just a card game!"

"Now look here, Renji!" Ichigo continued to scold, "Next time you pull crap like this, I'm going to kick your ass so hard that-"

Just then an enormous blast of spiritual energy lit up the night and the roar of a dragon could be heard just above the din of the explosion. Immediately following was a burst of wind so great that all of the cards were blown from the pile on the ground and out of everyone's hands.

"Well," said Renji with a smug grin, "No cards, no card game. Care to prove that I was cheating now? Let's go Rukia, Rikichi."

"Idiot," muttered Rukia with a grin as she, Rikichi, and Momo took off after him.

Ichigo stared and growled for a moment- the others taking off to engage the enemy- before Toshiro said, "Ichigo, I think that one of your sisters just got stabbed."

"WHAAAT!!?"

**Author's Request: **Please don't forget to review! Only reviews can motivate me to pump out new chapters without waiting for a month or so to pass by. Favorites without any sort of review will not. So if you desire another chapter before Easter, then please make this emotionally starved author feel motivated to please his fans by sending reviews. The emotionally starved author thanks you! =D

Kon- You know, it's kinda lame that you just copy and paste that from chapter to chapter to the next without changing it at all.  
Me- S-shut up!  
Kon- Though not quite as lame that you have to beg for reviews at all.  
Me- Well I get far too many favorites and not nearly enough reviews, darn it! I don't need favorites, I need feed back! I'm hoping that this way they'll get the message.  
Kon- Pfft, whatever. Loser.  
Me- Grrrrrr


	10. Chapter 10: Ancient History and

**Author's Note- **Sorry for being late, I had some homework that I needed to get finished over the weekend and I have a new game that I'm addicted to, so I had a little trouble getting things taken care of earlier.  
Though I'm going to take a break from this story for a while to work on some other stuff, this chapter marks the beginning of a slow-down period that I plan on taking for some fluff and character development. There will be a minor skirmish in the next one and a couple training battles, but nothing beyond that.  
None of the "History" provided in this chapter is canon in any way shape or form. It's just a combination of my own theories of Soul Society's background and a little bit extra (the thing about the vampires) in order to determine where the Bounts figure in.  
I also apologize for the brief instance of crude humor at the end of the first part of this chapter. Normally I steer clear of such humor, but I really couldn't help myself. It just seemed like something Senna would say. Please enjoy. =D

**Discalimer: **Must…play…Elder Scrolls…4…  
**Kon- ***smack* No, you idiot! Chapter first, then Oblivion!  
**Me- **Fine, fine. I don't own Bleach or any of the characters within except for the OCs. Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo. Will you tell me where you hid the disc now?  
**Kon- **After you hook me up with some hot, buxom chicks, first!  
**Me- **Why you little…!

**Chapter 10: Ancient History and Current Events**

"How are Lieutenant Kotetsu and Lieutenant Kotsubaki doing, Captain?" asked Toshiro Hitsugaya, his second and third seat flanking him on either side.

"They're doing much better, Captain Hitsugaya," Head Captain Joshiro Ukitake replied with only the slightest hint of worry in his careworn face, "Thank you for asking."

"It's a good thing that that Ms. Kurosaki was there, or they'd might not have been found in time," Shunsui Kyoraku nodded as the group plodded along, referring to Karin.

"And that Lieutenant Kurosaki was there as well," Nanao Ise added, her normally even voice allowing a hint of the sadness that she felt whenever comrades were killed or came close to it.

"Too true, Nanao-chan. Too true."

The six were moving at a steady pace along the grounds of the Seireitei, on their way to the Squad Twelve barracks and the headquarters for Research and Development. It was two days since the fiasco with the arrancars, and the warm summer sunshine seemed to mock the gloom-filled soldiers of the Gotei 13. Everyone had felt uneasy since the initial, brief attack on the Soul Society several months before, and this newest attack had done nothing to quell the growing anxiety.

Passing by the ill-kept hedgerows that grew outside the walls of Squad Eleven, Captain Ukitake chose to take the conversation in a lighter direction. Seeing even the flamboyant Shunsui looking glum was never a good sign.

"Though Orihime was able to close up their injuries, she was already tired from healing everyone else, so they are still rather sore. I've ordered them to rest." He laughed lightly as he concluded, "And they're so put out by me having to be the one taking care of them, it's really quite funny. When I left, they were actually arguing about who got hurt more."

Everyone grinned at that statement, everyone but Toshiro.

"I wonder what sort of creatures those things were," the ever-calculating teenager wondered, "That the arrancars would go to them for help, and to be able to defeat two lieutenants with just one of their number."

"That's…," Captain Kyoraku paused half a moment before completing his thought. "That's what we're going to Kurotsuchi to find out."

"Well said, old friend," Joshiro nodded. He could sense from Shunsui's words that the two were in agreement. There were just some things that were best not to talk about more often than necessary.

"You're hiding something," Toshiro accused without missing a stride.

"No, we're not," Shunsui replied, continuing to walk even as he looked over his shoulder to face the younger captain and wave a dismissive hand. "That's why we're letting Mayuri explain things."

He now turned towards Joshiro and said, "Old farts like us shouldn't have to bring up old stuff like this, especially if it's unpleasant. Isn't that right, Joshiro?"

"Unpleasant," Joshiro laughed to himself, though it possessed little mirth. "That's a good way to put it."

Hitsugaya opened his mouth as if to say something, but seemed to think better of it. He vented his frustration by scowling at the ground.

They continued on for several minutes in silence, each lost in their own thoughts as they rounded the corner of the Squad Eleven headquarters. They could now see the top of the Research and Development building peering over the walls of its compound.

"So, Rangiku," Shunsui asked all of a sudden, "Got any plans this evening, my voluptuous beauty?"

Nanao hit her captain in the back with the large book that she always carried.

"Sorry, hon," laughed Rangiku behind her hand, "But we've got a Women's Association meeting tonight."

"And anyway," growled Hitsugaya, "She still has a lot of paperwork that she has to finish."

"But Captain…," both of his subordinates whined.

"No to whatever your excuse is, Matsumoto. And Aria, I've told you before; she's the lieutenant, there's a certain amount of responsibility that comes with that rank, and it's long past time for her to learn that. You shouldn't have to keep doing her work for her."

Rangiku grumbled to herself a moment, then brightened as an idea struck her. "And anyway, Kyoraku, I don't date old farts. I'm just not that kind of girl!"

Not even Toshiro Hitsugaya could stop a grin from forming as the wounded senior captain came to a stop to turn and fix the busty lieutenant with hurt, sad puppy-dog eyes.

"Speaking of Squad Ten," Ukitake said once his mirth had passed. He reached inside of his haori sleeves.

"Oh no," Toshiro groaned to himself, trying to take a step back. Grinning towards one another as they did so, Aria Miyamoto and Rangiku Matsumoto each raised an arm behind their captain's back to stop his retreat.

"Just a little gift, no need to thank me," Joshiro grinned as he deposited an overstuffed bag of candy into the junior 'Shiro-chan's' arms.

"Um, Head Captain, I've told you this before," Hitsugaya said, trying to hold the heavy bag up. He briefly wondered if it was filled with rock candy, then mentally groaned at his own joke. "I really don't have much of a sweet tooth, and-,"

"Oh, that's a lie, Captain!" Rangiku interjected. The group had been standing still ever since the lieutenant's verbal sucker punch to Shunsui.

"Every time we work on paperwork, I've always seen you sneak a piece or two from the candy jar on your desk when you think I'm not looking," Aria pointed out.

"W-well it's right there," stammered Hitsugaya, growing increasingly flustered. "If you hadn't put that accursed jar there in the first place-!"

"Oh, please!" Rangiku broke in again, "I've tried to put one there loads of times, but you always made me take it off. It wasn't until Ri-chan came up with it that you agreed to let the candy jar stay."

Cornered, the young captain turned towards his third seat for back-up. When all Aria did was give a pleased grin, Toshiro groaned in his throat and slumped in defeat.

Deciding then to be vindictive, he turned towards his lieutenant and said, "Here, take this. Consider it one of your duties as lieutenant to carry my luggage."

The cheery redhead groaned as she tried to handle the bag, also surprised at its weight. She pouted for a moment, fixing the sack with a contemplative look. Looking up towards the grinning Ukitake and Shunsui and the impassive Nanao, then back towards the smirking Toshiro and silently laughing Aria, Rangiku then fixed her gaze on the bushes behind them and promptly chucked in that direction.

It never reached the ground.

"Get it!"

"Mine!"

Two red and black blurs rocketed out of the hedge before latching firmly onto the bag of sweets.

"Well, well," Shunsui laughed, "So that's who's been following us."

"Insei! Senna!" Toshiro barked, trying to sound angrier than he really was, "What do you two think you're doing?"

"Isn't it obvious?" asked Senna, crimson ribbon and violet spikes bobbing as she shoved a handful of starburst shaped candies into her mouth. "We're going to sit in on that thing that you guys are off to the Twelfth Division to see."

"And by 'We,' she means herself," Yamato said once he had swallowed down a mouthful of chocolate covered peanuts. "I was just tagging along to make sure that she didn't get lost or in trouble or anything. And this stuff's really good, Head Captain."

Ukitake grinned broadly at the compliment.

"You're such a stick in the mud, 'Mato," Senna replied in a bored tone, "And a big far liar, in point of fact."

"Bah!" Yamato waved her off, turning his attention back to the candy.

"What you two are going to do," Toshiro growled, restraining himself from yelling with no small amount of effort, "Is march straight back to our barracks and finish the paperwork that we left for you to do while we're out."

"Already done," drawled Senna, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Or if not, then everyone else should be close to it, at any rate," added Yamato in response to his captain's fish-eyed stare. At that pronouncement, Toshiro's eyes almost doubled in size.

"You left the paperwork for the rest of the squad to do!?" the horror in his voice was the only thing to match his anger.

"Duh," Senna answered dryly. "And it's not like it's a big deal or anything. All there is to do is just put your signature down on everything.

"F-forging a captain's signature is a serious offense!" stammered Nanao, as angered and indignant as Hitsugaya. "Ms. Senna, this is a very serious breach of ethical work behavior for-,"

"It's not a big deal Nanao," Shunsui interrupted, his voice smooth and consoling, "And the rest of us will help sift through everything later, isn't that right Joshiro?"

Ukitake just nodded with a smile (knowing that Shunsui would find a way to weasel out of it somehow), and in response Toshiro let out yet another defeated sigh.

"Fine," he said with an exasperated growl, "Just stay in the back and keep quite."

The group continued on for several paces before Senna's eyes lit up with sudden mischief.

"Ya know, 'Mato," she said, sucking some sugar off of her fingers with deliberate slowness. "There's no need to pretend. We all know the real reason for why you follow me around."

Yamato turned around, perplexed. The others listened as well, curious; though some less honest about it to themselves than others.

"Yep," she grinned, twisting the half-empty bag closed and shoving it into her partner's arms. "It's because you secretly enjoy the view from my back. Sure, my bust isn't anything extraordinary, but we both know that my caboose is as hot as your zanpakuto."

The girl of the scarlet ribbons continued onwards with an impish grin as everyone else came to a sudden, shocked halt.

"W-was that supposed to be a double entendre!?" Nanao gasped, blushing with a mixture of embarrassment and guilt at finding the pronouncement funny.

"Could have been," answered Shunsui, eyes pointing straight ahead, "All I know for sure is that she's right, she does have a rather attractive caboose.

Yamato stared, eyes riveted on the swaying ribbons as the girl marched away. His face made his hair look dull by comparison. One half of his brain had died of shock and pleasure, the other was fogged over with pure desire.

"I'm going to marry that girl," he droned, heedless of what was passing through his lips as Captain Kyoraku keeled over with a fist sized lump growing out of his head.

* * *

"I still don't understand why I have to be the one who provides these asinine explanations about what's going on whenever there's a crises," Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi complained, glancing around the corner at the assembled captains and lieutenants who were standing about in his laboratory.

"I'm a busy man with many responsibilities, and one who has no desire to get involved in anything that can be accomplished just as well- albeit far more crudely- by people with lesser minds! Any one of you apes can read I presume, and a few have access to the Dairaisho Archives. This is an utter waste of my time and talent!"

"And I don't know why Captain Ukitake asked me to be the one to have to drag you out of your study when anyone in Squad Eleven could have done it just as easily, but you don't see me being a baby about it," Soifon growled, expressing her equal irritation with jaw clenched and single arm set on her hips.

Kurotsuchi took a moment to glance down at the much shorter woman and snarled, "Are you suggesting that any one of those unevolved brutes could stand up to me in battle? Are you proposing then that I have no talent as a fighter? Surely you, of all people, can appreciate the subtle and devastating effects of my Ashisogi Jizo!"

"I appreciate its power, just not the ability of its master."

The clown-visaged scientist gave a fierce snarl at this insult but chose not to let his temper get the better of him. He would not have this puny, cat worshiping one armed assassin have the satisfaction of seeing him lose his temper. After all, he was superior in every way conveyable. He had seen to that personally years ago. However, there was that one small, irritating issue of…

"Not that it's any of my business," Mayuri questioned, "But why have you never gotten that arm of yours replaced?"

"Why?"

"Why? Why!? Because it's something that can easily be fixed, that's why!" In spite of himself, Kurotsuchi could not help but let his growing irritation show. Her face may be straight as she said it, but he was sure that her every word was deliberately calculated to needle him, and he was growing impatient.

"I may not believe in absolute perfection, but seeing such glaring flaws in a being that can be remedied with so little effort is something that makes no sense to me! I could easily make you an arm that's ten times more efficient than the old one could ever have been, or even your entire body for that matter."

"There are three reasons," replied Soifon, as stone faced and impassive as ever, "The first is simply that I neither trust nor like you, and it would sully my honor as an assassin to enhance myself by such reprehensible and unnatural means. The second is to remind myself never to become careless or to underestimate a foe ever again."

Mayuri rolled his eyes far back into his head at this honor-bound tripe.

A sudden small grin briefly crossed the fighter's lips as she concluded, whilst rounding the corner to join her fellow officers, "And the third is because I enjoy how much it bugs you."

The clownish scientist nearly screamed in fury at this final, impudent pronouncement, but his lieutenant chose that moment to speak up.

"Master Mayuri, the captains are growing restless."

"I know, I know, Nemu!" he spat back, "I can sense it, and I don't really care. But if it'll get them to go away and leave me alone- Come, Nemu!"

Those who had been selected to aid in the presentation scrambled about to their stations as their fearsome captain waded into their midst in front of the other leaders of the Gotei 13, his artificially created lieutenant following obediently at his heels.

"Now then," Mayuri growled, rounding upon his peers and their subordinates, "I've been asked to explain to you imbeciles something about the current situation of our enemies."

Several of those gathered scowled back at the insult, while others looked towards Soifon with some curiosity. The assassin leader herself allowed a rare chuckle that only her lieutenant, Tatsuki Arisawa, could hear.

"Concerning these new arrancar," Kurotsuchi went on, "All we know thus far is that, based upon the numbers that they themselves have reported, there are at least seven of them, though only five of these have been encountered thus far. We also know that they refer to themselves as "Time Capsule Arrancars," and that they possess unique abilities outside of the standard resurrección."

Holographic images of Givos, Daki, Francisco Victor, and Don Domingo hovered above Kurotsuchi's head as he spoke, each one with a number hovering beneath their corresponding arrancar: One, three four, five, and seven respectively.

"Beyond that, we know nothing except that there is some sort of "Period of Development," that they are currently undergoing, presumably some sort of artificial puberty that allows them an unusual increase in strength from devouring souls that will end prematurely if they attempt to use their full power. I currently know nothing more, so I will kindly ask that you fools stop pestering me about it!"

Somewhere in the back, Shunsui grinned a bit before wincing in pain. Nanao just glanced at her captain and adjusted her glasses with an unrepentant glare while the former held a hand gingerly to his injury.

"Concerning these Bount creatures, however, I can shed some light." The scientist's voice grew a bit calmer, now that he had had a chance to vent some of his frustration.

The lights dimmed as the holographic slideshow changed to a series of archaic brush paintings that corresponded with the Twelfth Division captain's narration, the illustrations becoming progressively more modern in style and appearance as the story progressed.

"In order to accurately describe these creatures and their relevance to current circumstances, we must first look back to the most ancient of times. This is neither my area of expertise nor one of great interest of me but," Kurotsuchi spared an irritated glance towards the head captain, "But since I was _asked_ so politely to provide an explanation…

"Tens of millennia ago, the three levels of the cosmos- The World of the Living, the Soul Society, and Hueco Mundo- were controlled primarily by three races: Humans, the reishi giants, and the demons, respectively. Hell did not then exist. For those of you unfamiliar with them, the reishi giants are an ancient race of spiritual beings who were the original caretakers of the dead and discoverers of the zanpakuto and kido. They are, in essence, the original soul reapers. They are now mostly extinct, and only four tribes exist, each one in charge of providing a gatekeeper for the Seireitei. Demons, of course, are beings of pure malevolence who devour souls while simultaneously putting them through excruciating torment. It is believed by some scholars that it was the demons who first caused humans to turn into hollows.

"Over the millennia, the souls of humans- and occasionally still-living souls- have participated in the reishi giants' wars with the demons. It was about ten thousand years ago when the wars essentially came to an end when the most powerful kido practicioners of the reishi giants banded together to create a new dimension into which the majority of the demons were promptly banished, nearly driving the reishi giants to extinction in the process."

Mayuri paused a moment to contemplate to himself, "Which is quite sad, really, because this has made any sort of research into their biology heavily frowned upon due to their low numbers, and as such-,"

Byakuya Kuchiki made a small noise in his throat. The sound was not loud, but it was enough to throw Kurotsuchi off. When the second president of Research and Development turned to glare at the other, Byakuya met his gaze with a dispassionate but sharp glare of his own. Mayuri was the first to break off.

Close by, Yachiru Kusajishi gave a small cheer from the shoulder of a silently snoozing (yet still standing) Kenpachi.

"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, the demons have continued to plague the Soul Society for much of what is now referred to as its Pre-Modern Era, in the form of those who had escaped the initial sealing, and of those who would manage to escape from time-to-time. It was also during this period that human souls took over the control of the Seireitei, the time when the Soul King rose to power, and that we saw a vast increase in living humans with spiritual abilities participating in these battles. Such humans are sometimes known as shamans, and they often formed powerful priest castes in ancient human civilization."

The scientist stopped a moment to allow this information to sink in before a cruel sneer crossed his painted lips.

"It was also at some point in the midst of this time," the mad scientist announced dramatically as the manuscript image of a fanged human with bat wings and a forked tail appeared above his head. Though in some ways the strange creature reminded two of the onlookers horribly of a certain powerful Espada, the thing before them possessed no hollow hole. "That the vampires first appeared."

The tension in the room grew heavy and tangible, and Kurotsuchi allowed himself a brief mental grin of victory. Now they were paying attention!

"Though the exact details of their birth are still unknown to us," Mayuri continued with his oration, "It is believed that they were initially the result of a massive crossbreeding experiment between humans, captured soul reapers, certain unique hollows, and the demons themselves. My research indicates that they were created to serve as a sort of heavy footsoldier to supplement the ranks of ordinary hollows during the various demon wars, right up to the time of the Great Desctruction; in which the last of the demon forces, allied with the vasto lordes, nearly succeeded in destroying the Soul Society some twenty-two hundred years ago."

The faces of Captains Ukitake, Kyoraku, and Unohana all became very grave at the mention of this. The three remembered that terrible, chaotic time, though they had been unable to participate in any of the fighting. Had it not been for the bravery and prowess of Master Genryusai and Ginrei Kuchiki…

"Once that crises was over and the modern era began," Kurotsuchi went on without missing a beat, reveling in the attention, "Demons outside of hell ceased to exist, though vampires continued to live on, albeit in greatly reduced numbers.

"As many of you may be aware of, non-first generational vampires devour blood and souls from humans, possess amazing strength and speed, and possess a wide variety of transformative abilities. They drink blood in order to survive, and eat souls- or rather a large portions of a soul- in order to create more of their kind, and lose nearly all of their power when exposed to sunlight or the aroma of certain kinds of herbs, such as garlic. Some of you may also know that they have been a nuisance to the Soul Society ever since they were created, especially in the living world's…seventeen hundreds, I believe?"

"Ugh, don't remind me," groaned Shunsui. Everyone turned to face the lay-about captain with a look of either amusement or curiosity. In Kurotsuchi's case, it was far more akin to a death glare; regardless, Captain Kyoraku carried on, "I remember Old Man Yama dragging me and Joshiro's butts all over Eastern Europe trying to hunt those suckers down."

There was a ripple of laughter at the intended pun.

"Having to kill real vampires, occasionally saving some poor human sap from getting his heart cut out after being accused of being a one," he droned in a half-bored voice, "Then there were the hollows! All the living were digging up all the dead's graves to hunt for vampires, and so the ghosts of those people became so outraged that they turned into hollows. We probably killed at least a dozen or more of them for every vampire that we found, isn't that right, Joshiro?"

The white haired head captain couldn't help but smile, but managed to speak instead of laugh. "Um, Shunsui. I think we should let Captain Kurotsuchi finish. We did pull him away from his research to do this, after all."

"My point exactly, Head Captain!" the clown in question barked, "So with all due respect _Captain_ Kyoraku," though the way he emphasized Shunsui's title seemed to indicate that he did not believe that there was much respect due, "Shut up and let me finish!"

After a moment of angry throat clearing, Kurotsuchi began again, though at a much faster clip and in a far more stressed tone of voice. In the background, those manning the overhead holographic projectors began to tap furiously at their consoles to keep up with the new pace.

"At some point in the 15th century, a number of vampires began to discover that they could interbreed with both soul reapers and humans, and several of the more ambitious ones began to have the results of these unions- forced as they often times were- to mate with one another in experiments not unlike those performed by their own creators. These, of course, were the bounts."

A grainy image of the white haired man named Kariya and his two companions appeared, floating eerily above the even more eerie captain's head.

"The bounts, thankfully, have never been very numerous. Like their vampire kin, bounts are immortal, but cannot reproduce themselves. They can also live off of human blood, but what little research I've been able to put into the subject points that their most preferred food is human souls, which makes them just as much of a problem for the balance of the world as hollows or quincies. They also seem to have inherited a trait from their soul reaper ancestors in the form of a bizarre variation of the zanpakuto, which they call dolls. The dolls, however, are less like weapons than personal bodyguards. They can wield as wide a variety of powers and abilities as a real zanpakuto, but their destruction will inevitably lead to the death of their masters.

"Most of the bounts were hunted down and killed both before and after the Quincy Wars; but whereas vampires are now merely exceedingly rare, bounts no longer exist at all. Or so we had thought. Now, any questions?"

This last statement was tossed out rhetorically with an angry snarl, and so Senna and Orihime were completely ignored when the two attempted to raise their hands.

"Good! Now get out of my laboratory!"

* * *

"Well that was an…interesting presentation," Senna said once she and her squad mates had made it back to the barracks. "Is he always like that?"

"Pretty much," Captain Hitsugaya replied, irritably, scribbling his signature absently on a document he had just finished reading over. "Now if you don't mind Senna, please get back to work and help the rest of us fix this mess that you made."

"Okaaaaaay," she huffed in a tired voice, though she remained precisely where she was.

The entire top-ranked half of Squad Ten's cabinet of ranked officers was crowded into their captain's office, every available place to sit taken up and those without tables or desks to write on were making do with drawing pads or squares of wood, and all busily brushing away to fix the mess of errors caused by Senna and Yamato's previous time saving efforts by spreading the whole load to everyone in the squad. Joshiro and Nanao (with Shunsui nowhere in sight of the paperwork) had already taken what they could and left.

Everyone was hard at work; that is, except for Senna herself. The violet haired girl was slumped over backwards atop the head of one of the overstuffed sofas and looking as bored as anyone could be. Aria and another guy, the seventh seat, she thought, were moved apart so that her head could rest on the cushion.

One of Hitsugaya's eyebrows twitched. She was even worse than Rangiku! Then he took a moment to calm himself, thinking, _'Don't worry, at least she's not drunk half the ti- wait a second!'_

"Where's Rangiku!?" the young captain demanded suddenly, his icy emerald glare quickly finding the subject of his enquiry. The busty lieutenant was, like everyone else, hard at work, but not in the same manner. Rather, she had been working hard to slip out the door without being seen, though clearly this had failed.

"Get back to the paperwork, Rangiku! NOW!"

The white haired captain's patience was wearing very thin.

"Damn it, we wouldn't be in this mess if-," Histsugaya growled, but was interrupted by a small voice.

"Um, actually, Captain, since we're going back over everything to correct stuff, this really isn't any different than if we had just left it sitting here in the first place; except with more people helping of course." Aria pointed out, moving aside to let Rangiku in.

Meanwhile, Senna lifted up her head to allow her friend and lieutenant to sit down, then replaced it on Rangiku's shoulder. Both women gave loud, simultaneous sullen sighs.

"Yes, well, I just wanted it done anyway," Toshiro replied, allowing some of his anger to melt away with a touch of embarassment. Then it returned in a heartbeat when he saw Senna.

"Why aren't you working!?" he bellowed like a man who had just sat on a nest of bees.

"I'm waiting," was her reply.

"Waiting for what!?" he demanded as everyone else in the room began to shiver from a sudden drop in room temperature.

"'Mato's waiting too," was her reply, aware that she wasn't answering the question, "In fact, he's reading manga right now. That's why he's sitting with his back to you."

The red head in question jumped with a howl as his secret was revealed and the captain's antarctic glare turned upon him. Sure enough, a copy of Soul Jump (Soul Society's Shonen Jump) fell to the ground with a plop from where it had been tossed into the air.

"I'll deal with you…both…," the captain was now so frustrated that he was sputtering, "W-what do you mean by waiting!?"

"Waiting for you to notice and send us out." Senna's voice was placid and even.

"And why would I-!?"

"You may have already gone past it."

Brought up short on his next reply and quite puzzled, Toshiro began shuffling back through his neatly stacked pile of completed documents for anything out of the ordinary. Sure enough, there was something in there that he had missed before, and _already approved by himself._

"Wh-what the hell!? Training leave!? You put me through all of this and you expect me to agree to this!?"

"You already have."

"Th-that doesn't count, I-, How did you know that I'd-, what, who wrote-?!"

"I-it was my fault, Captain," Aria spoke up again, giving him a weak smile. "I thought it wouldn't hurt after that last battle, so when Senna asked me, I-,"

Toshiro waved his third seat's explanation away as he put a hand to his throbbing head with a tired groan.

"Just go. All of you."

No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the gathered officers were rushing to the door, none anxious to be anywhere near their leader's ice cold temper any longer. On her way out, Senna made a detour to snatch the approved document out of Toshiro's hand before skipping out. Yamato just gave a sheepish, apologetic grin before leaving himself.

"So, uh, aspirin?" Aria questioned after several long moments of uncomfortable silence with her overstressed captain.

"Yes, thank you," he groaned, leaning on his desk with his elbows and running his hands over his face.

As the third seat stepped softly towards the door, he added, "And check the label. I don't want to wind up sleeping for half a day with nightmares.

Aria nearly fell over at the quip and scowled before stalking out, muttering something about how authority figures shouldn't pick on their subordinates.

At last, Toshiro allowed himself a grin, feeling some of his headache slip away.

At least he still had one person he could count on.

**To Be Continued…**

*****

*****

**Preview:  
Orihime- **Won't it be nice just to hang around and relax?  
**Tatuski- **Definitely. I vacation to the Living World will do everyone some good!  
**Ichigo- **Yeah! Fun in the sun! Where're we going again? A beach? An amusement park? A-  
**Toshiro- **Sorry Ichigo, but you have to stay behind to train my subordinates.  
**Ichigo- **What!? But that's not fair! I-  
**Tatsuki & Orihime- **Have fun Ichigo! We'll bring back a souvenir for you!  
**Ichigo- **No! Wait! Come back! I wanna have fun too!

*****

*****

**Omake:**

"Now, any questions?" demanded Mayuri Kurotsuchi, almost immediately following up with the demand of, "Good! Now get out of my laboratory!"

As Kurotsuchi was ranting, he missed an upraised thumbs-up by Renji, as well as the nod of confirmation that Research and Development scientist Rin Tsubokura replied with from his computer station. A moment later, he and his fellows began typing commands madly into their consoles with wicked grins on their faces.

A moment later the image of the bounts was replaced by the phrase, "Raise your hand if you are not gay."

With barely suppressed laughter, nearly everyone in the assembly promptly raised their hands (including Byakuya). The only exceptions were Toshiro, who had not done so merely on the grounds that he refused to play such childish games, but who's arm was promptly forced into the air by Rangiku and Aria; and the still snoozing Kenpachi, though Yachiru made sure that her foster-father's arm was in the air as well. Even the scientists at the terminals had their hands raised.

"What! What are you all doing still doing here!? Don't tell me that you all have a question!" Mayuri demanded, his hand not raised for he had yet to notice the change in the projection.

"Um, Master Mayuri-," Nemu began, also with arm raised.

"Not now, Nemu! I'm trying to figure out what the apes want!"

"But sir," she insisted, now pointing.

Giving his creation a strange look, Kurotsuchi reluctantly looked up, just as the message overhead changed to say "Jackass," with a neon-red arrow pointing down at himself. A pair of overlarge, holographic donkey ears were also positioned above his head as well.

Everyone but Nemu, the sleeping Kenpachi, Toshiro and Byakuya let out half-constrained snickers, though the stoic head of the Kuchiki clan did allow himself a small grin. Kurotsuchi, however, was flat out furious.

"BANKAI!!"

"RUN!!" cried Rin as the enormous, infant headed caterpillar Konjiki Ashisogi Jizo tore the building apart with its sudden materialization, spewing clouds of poison in every direction, "RUN FOR YOUR LIVESSSS!!"


End file.
